Darkness within the Light
by LawrenceK
Summary: The sequel to "Sacrifice for Vengence" follows Nadia as she tries to complete the deal she made to save Dean; while Sam and Dean continue hunting but before long, an unforseen foe brings them back together; but good and evil isn't black and white anymore.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

As Nadia walked the still unfamiliar path back to Andrea's apartment, she was too lost in Dean to notice her surroundings. It was late and she was alone again, which was always a recipe for a bad time. The memories dug at her again as she thought back to the times she and Dean had spent at the shooting range, in the impala, and alone in her room—those were always the worst. _What is he thinking right now? What did he say? What did he do? What did he think when he woke up three days ago? _Three hundred and sixty two days until she would ever be able to see him again. That thought knocked the wind out of her and she had to fight to keep moving. All she wanted to do was drop to the sidewalk, crawl into the alley and curl into a ball.

She was too absorbed to notice the footsteps behind her. Normally, she was hyper aware of such things; but Aidan was making that more and more difficult. While Nadia wallowed, Aidan complained. She resented Nadia for every moment of ecstasy and pain Nadia reran over and over in her head. What she despised the most was that this weak emotional state was all that allowed her to come out anymore; what with Themi always popping up and alerting Nadia to how close she was to finally breaking out. So she was resigned to either fighting to get through while subjecting herself to that self-inflicted pain or distance herself back to the safe and quiet vault she had fought so long and hard to escape. Take it or leave it.

But now they were both too distracted with trying to block each other out, that neither of them noticed that the footsteps were getting closer. At least not until a sharp pain at the base of Nadia's neck made everything silent. Her legs gave out and she fell hard to the pavement and held on to what little consciousness she could.

She was confused by the pain, the hard surface against her back, the tugging under her arms and ankles, and the thick fog she was engulfed in. The voices didn't help; they were too far away to understand. A sharp pressure wrapped around her wrists and pulled them over her head, where they were forced to stay. The tugging left her ankles and moved to her waist; the sensation was confusingly familiar. It was almost as if someone was trying to unfasten her belt… _Someone is unfastening your belt!_ The new comprehension rocketed through her and her body froze. Her breath caught in her throat as her head tried to clear.

The sudden change in demeanor took the man off guard and his hold on her wrists loosened in response. The slight decrease in pressure caused Nadia to react instinctively. Her mind flashed through her options in a split second: Scream…Fight…Make them stop…

Making them stop was something she could do so easily; all she had to do was concentrate long enough to make the command stick. It was then that she realized the pronoun her brain had chosen, "them." _There is more than one!_ One man was holding her hands and another straddled her while he unbuttoned her jeans. In the split second it took her to understand this, the man with her wrists hadn't yet realized his mistake. She was vaguely aware of the threats and compliments they whispered to her as she tried to focus on their minds well enough to have an affect on them. But she couldn't possibly focus well enough in this condition so she gave up that avenue and turned to years of preparation she had under her belt. She yanked her hands free of his grip and forced herself to sit up as fast as she could. There wasn't much she could do with the straddler holding her down, so she went after him first. As she sat upright, the other man leaned forward and her forehead connected hard with his chin and he fell backward. The straddler froze in shock as she came at him; _they had never done this before. It was always so easy with the others; what is she thinking?_ He heard her elbow slam into his nose before he felt it and he fell back against the ground. _This is all wrong. It's not supposed to happen like this!_

She reached for the knife strapped to her leg but her pant leg was in the way and the first man wrapped his arm around her neck. _Fight!_ Aidan screamed at her. Before she could ask how, she felt completely detached from her body and her hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. A putrid smell filled Nadia's nose as the man started to scream and pulled away from her. He stumbled backward and Nadia saw the glow emanating from her palm. _Of course! _She told herself; she had forgotten all about her other abilities—but as she tried to pull her body back, nothing happened. She was no longer in control of herself, Aidan was fighting this fight. Fear and comfort flooded her body as she watched the men stagger back in overwhelming fear.

Aidan stood up while she pulled the knife from the sheath on her ankle. She could sense how small the distance had become between her and the bigger threat, the man she had already burned. She spun and stretched her arm out as the knife sank deep into is carotid. He immediately fell to his knees and the other man started running away as fast as he could. Aidan slowly turned her head toward him and the rest of her body followed. She watched him for a second and just as he was about to reach the end of the alley, she reached out her arm and yanked it to the right. His body was forced backward and slammed into a wall.

The sound was sickeningly familiar to Nadia and she thought back to the night at the fairgrounds with Cyprien. Then her mind returned to the realizations that night had brought and how Dean had reacted. "Oh, would you shut up already!?" Aidan interrupted her.

She walked to the man slumped against the building and watched him long enough to confirm he was dead. Then she walked back to the larger man laying on the ground gasping for air. The knife had kept enough blood in his artery to keep him alive until now. Aidan reached down, grabbed the knife, and yanked it straight through his windpipe with no more expression than as if she had dropped a pen. She wiped the blade clean with the man's shirt and slid it back where it belonged. She stared down at him before saying, "Two down, 998 to go."

Aidan's words flashed another memory through her mind. A gentle looking old man walking up to her, a man she still didn't know the name of…

"Ba'al Zebub," Aidan answered.

_How do you know that? Don't you know as much as I do? _Nadia snapped back. Their body shrugged its shoulders. …_Ba'al Zebub, _walking up to her and making a deal; where she agreed to collect one thousand souls in exchange for Dean's life.

"_Collecting souls…" _Aidan scoffed, "does that make it sound better to you? You are killing a thousand people, get over it," Aidan rolled her eyes.

_It does actually. Now get back where you belong…_

"Why? Do you really still think that _you_ can do this?" she swept her arms over the alley.

_It doesn't matter what I think I can do; I have to. That's all there is to it. Now, give me my body back!_

"Make me…" Aidan challenged.

Nadia was taken aback but she didn't know why. It wasn't like she really expected Aidan to just bow out gracefully.

"Seriously," Aidan commented.

Nadia fought hard to push herself back into her limbs and to the forefront of her mind but it was like trying to squeeze an orange through the opening of a pop bottle, in one piece. She could feel that she was getting nowhere fast, "I swear I will do nothing but think of Dean and every moment we spent together; if you do not get back where you belong!" She felt her body tighten but Aidan's defenses weakened slightly. Just like when Nadia was thinking of Dean, the control eased up when Aidan was distracted. Nadia thought of Dean's laugh, smile, her favorite smirk, the way his arms wrapped protectively around her, and his voice when he finally said, "I love you." She held onto Dean's face while she pushed through and regained control of her body.

"_Shit!" _Aidan repeated over and over again as she was forced back into the deep corners of their mind.

"Ha!" Nadia fired back loudly, just for emphasis. Footsteps echoed down the alley from the end of the alley and caught her attention. Her eyes flashed to the men on the ground. _That'll serve you right. Get yourself caught…_Aidan fired back. _But if we are going to go to prison, could you at least zip your fly? We don't need to send out an open invitation._

Nadia rolled her eyes, refastened her pants and belt and scanned the alley for an escape route. She ran to the nearest fire escape and launched herself up to the ladder and climbed onto the roof as fast as she could. A few seconds later a man turned to face the alley and stopped cold.

Nadia was already to the other side of the building and climbing down another fire escape. She dropped to the sidewalk and glanced around but no one was there to witness her sudden appearance. She looked down at herself and saw blood covering her jacket so she pulled it off and folded it, inside out, over her arm. She took out her ponytail and brought her hair over her shoulders to obscure her face as much as she could. She was still too shaken up to use her abilities and make her self look like someone else; so she tried to look as innocent as possible. She had to walk back by the alley from which she had just fled.

Her jeans had a few spots of blood on them so she crossed the street and avoided the circles of light left by streetlamps. Nadia had vehemently encouraged her best friend, Andrea, to choose the apartment she now lived in. With the police station just around the corner, she was cursing that decision.

The lights flashing off the buildings made the scene look even worse. Nadia kept her head down and continued forward. The realization of what had happened was just starting to come to her attention and panic was rising.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lakewood, Colorado

The bad attitude Sam had expected. He knew the conversations would be short, sharp, and like pulling teeth. He even expected the denial; but not to this degree. The anger and pain that radiated off Dean reminded Sam of after John had died. Thinking back to those hostile conversations and thrown punches, Sam began to grow more and more worried about what Dean would turn into this time around.

That night on the docks when they saved Gordon--_that came back to bite us--_from the vampire came flooding to the forefront of his mind. Cutting off the heads of vampires was bad enough; but Dean had taken that task to another level entirely. The look on his face as he pulled the saw down on its neck, still sent shivers down his spine.

"Tell me why were here again," Dean's frustrated voice broke Sam out of his reverie.

Sam stifled an annoyed sigh before answering, "Six men were murdered in the last two weeks. No prints, no trace, no anything…you know, the usual."

"And what makes you think this is our kind of thing?" Dean asked for the fifth time.

Sam couldn't decide which Dean he preferred. The Dean who had been dying for a case, any case, after John died; or the one who questioned every possible case Sam brought to his attention. "Well, the cops have absolutely no leads and two of the guys were on their way back from the gym…where they were very devoted members. Not to mention, one was a trained cop; on the force 10 years."

"So they were Schwarzenegger wannabes that doesn't make them karate masters. Some strung-out mugger probably got the jump on them."

"You know, I don't get you. After dad died you wanted to take any case you could get your hands on and now you act like demons and spirits and werewolves don't even exist anymore." Sam turned towards Dean, "She left, Dean. But she's coming back; it's only a year."

He pulled the car into the first hotel parking lot he saw and shifted into park. "Yeah, Sam, it's only a year. But do you remember some of the things that have happened in just a year? I almost died, we finally killed the demon, dad died, and we literally opened the gates to hell! She is half demon, Sam! I try…but I still find it hard to completely believe that she can always be on our side. God knows what she is doing right now…" he shook his head.

Sam couldn't help but look away at those words. He knew what she was doing and Dean had a right to worry; even if he didn't know it. "You just have to trust her," the words were barely above a whisper and more to himself than anyone else. He felt guilty because since they had left Michigan he hadn't really thought about Nadia. He was too preoccupied with worrying about Dean and trying to put up with him. Now all he could think about was what she could be doing at that exact moment. Killing was never easy, not even for the most experienced hunter; let alone for someone like her. Nadia was good, loyal, and viciously protective; if he hadn't been in that barn in Montana he never would have believed she were capable of such a thing. She had looked like a completely different person in that one minute of confrontation.

"…I don't know what she agreed to, Sammy, and that scares the hell out of me. My mind flies to the worst situations it can possibly come up with and I can't help wondering if one of them is right on the money." They sat for a long time in silence before Dean opened the door and climbed out.

Sam watched him shuffle through the credit cards in his wallet—he still refused to use the card from Nadia—and walk into the front office. _What are you doing right now, Nadia?_ He couldn't help but ask himself. He grabbed the door handle, _I hope for both your sakes he's wrong,_ and closed and leaned on the door while he waited for Dean to reappear.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Nadia was almost to Andrea's apartment when it started to pour rain. She stopped on the sidewalk and stared down at the gum and trash that littered the path in front of her; oblivious to the downpour. _There are much easier ways to take a shower, you know._ Aidan's sarcasm snapped Nadia back enough to realize the rain had nearly completely soaked through her clothes. A shiver ran down her spine but she didn't hurry along. Instead, she closed her eyes, and looked up at the smog-filled sky. The large drops hurt her eyeballs when they hit her lids but she still didn't move. _You are such a freak,_ Aidan muttered inside her head; Nadia smiled. Back home at this time of year, she would be shaking relentlessly from the biting cold; but here the coolness of the rain was soothing. It made her feel grounded again and gave her something to hold onto to keep the panic at bay.

She jumped when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She stepped under a nearby awning and took the phone from her pocket; it was Andrea. Nadia debated whether to answer or not, until she saw what time it was and knew why she was calling. "Hey," she said into the phone.

"Where are you? Are you alright? I heard sirens and you weren't home yet, so I got worried," Andrea said, panicked.

"I'm fine. I got slowed down by the cops…um, I'm almost there. Give me two minutes," she didn't even let Andrea respond before she closed the phone. She glanced around one more time and then started running as fast as she could to the apartment.

Andrea must have been waiting at the door; because as soon as Nadia hit the stairs, the door opened. Andrea stared at her friend as she came to the top of the stairs, "What happened to you?"

"Caught in the rain," Nadia muttered as she pushed past her.

"It helps if you put the jacket on instead of carrying it over your arm," she closed the door while nodding at Nadia's jacket.

"That makes sense," she wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying or hearing. All she could do was think of the best way to get rid of the jacket for good. Aidan helped her out, _a trash can and snap of the fingers, duh._ "I really could do without the attitude," she noticed Andrea look at her and she realized she had said that comment out loud. _Smooth..._

"Well, excuse me…" Andrea snapped back.

"Not you," Nadia said apologetically. _Who then?_ Aidan mocked.

"Who then?" Andrea looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Are you sure you're alright? You didn't bump your head or anything?"

"No. I'm fine, really…" the words didn't sound convincing and she knew it. Part of her wanted to tell her best friend all about the voice in her head; _lord knows she's handled worse…_she thought to herself.

_Go ahead. Tell her all about how you have this evil twin in your head that wants to take over your body and use it to commit all its evil atrocities. Then you can tell her about the two men we just killed, _Aidan mocked.

Nadia's shoulders slumped as she heard the obvious truth in Aidan's words. _This time she really would think I'd lost my mind._

_Of course she would probably just think that it was because of losing the love of your life_ Aidan said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

_Bite me._ "I'm just really tired. I think I'm going to crash after I take a shower."

She started down the hall with long, fast strides but nearly fell on her face at Andrea's words. "Did you see what all the police were around for?"

Nadia steadied herself against the hallway wall, "Uh…I think some drug dealer died of an overdose or something…" She glanced back towards Andrea but didn't look anywhere but at her feet. "See you in the morning," now she practically ran to the spare bedroom.

Nadia was determined to stay focused enough to get herself clean before she let the panic take over. It wasn't until she was finished rinsing the conditioner out, that she completely lost control. She hurried out of the tub and squatted down beneath the falling water, fighting nausea and trying to let the heat calm her. Nothing was working. Water ran into her mouth as she struggled to take a decent breath. _Get a grip_, Aidan muttered.

Nadia sat with her hands wrapped around her knees until the water grew too cold to stand any longer. Her muscles were stiff from the held position and didn't want to cooperate long enough to get her out of the tub. She fought back the images of what had happened in the alley only an hour ago. Aidan, on the other hand, was focusing on them to relive every second. It was like trying to watch a tv show that keeps changing because your neighbor has the same remote. Only quick flashes made it to Nadia's brain. _Please stop,_ she begged.

_Why? You have to get used to it sometime—_at that Aidan forcibly showed her the restrainer's face when she had pulled the knife through his throat. Her body couldn't take anymore and her legs gave out on her. She grabbed the counter for support but let herself drop to her knees and sat her forehead against the edge. She fought to catch her breath and Aidan didn't show her anything else. She rolled to her left and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and curled herself up as small as she could get. She let the silent tears fall until she could get her legs and arms to get her off the floor and into the bedroom. She threw on the first pajamas she found and crawled into bed where the pictures were more tolerable in the safety of nightmares.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As much as he hated to admit it, Sam was right; this looked like one of their kind of cases. Six fully grown men had been slain on the sidewalks of the 1st street-Franklin-Monroe-Slope block. Cops never found any trace, prints, or witnesses; of course.

"Alright, so what do you think it is?" Dean yawned.

Sam sighed, "I don't know. We barely have anything to even begin research. I mean no one knows if it makes any certain sound, it doesn't leave any sulfur residue, no smell, no markings, no…anything."

"Demon?"

"No sulfur residue," Sam reminded him. "And what would be the point in killing six—as far as we can tell—unrelated men? And we haven't found any of the usual markers; no electrical storms, missing persons, cattle mutilations…"

"Alright, so…shape shifter?" Dean pondered.

"Again, no motive. I mean, what's the point? The only thing these guys had in common was that city block."

"So we start there…maybe there's some really pissed off vengeful spirit roaming the sidewalks."

Sam took a deep breath, "Maybe." Here they sat again, in another diner in another town; sipping coffee and blocking out meaningless conversations around them. Sam, desperate for something to do, started searching news articles based on that city block and ignored Dean's impatient fidgeting.

Finally Dean couldn't take the boredom any longer and went to the diner's baked goods counter. He stood there staring at the brownies and cookies for a long time before he realized what he wanted wasn't ever going to be found behind a chocolate-ladened counter. "Get me one of those brownies with the white crap on top," he didn't look at the cashier as he ordered and paid. He tucked the brownie in his pocket and pulled out his phone. Nadia's number was listed second on his phone, right under Bobby. He knew it was a fruitless move even before he pressed "send;" but he listened to it ring until her voicemail answered. Maybe she didn't have a new phone yet or maybe she was keeping hers, just in case. He opened his mouth to say something but instead made a frustrated sound and snapped it shut.

As Dean turned, Sam flashed his eyes back to the screen in front of him and pretended like he hadn't been watching. Dean sat back down, "So far there have been no violent deaths, accidents, or suicides anywhere on that block."

Dean blew a frustrated breath through his pooched lips, "Figures. Why can't it ever be easy?"

Sam smiled, "I think you and I would be out of a job then."

"Fine with me."

"Uh, huh," Sam muttered.

Dean gave him an inquisitive look but got no response from his brother. Boredom seemed to hit faster and faster these days. He fought letting it go on too long, or else he was destined to think about things he didn't want to think about; people he didn't want to worry about. "We should go check it out."

Sam pulled his brows together, "Check what out? Just walk the block a couple of times? There is nothing to see; it's just cement and dried gum, Dean."

Dean rolled his eyes and gave a frustrated sigh, "There has to be something we can do." He stared at the wall above Sam's head for awhile, "Is there a pattern to this thing?"

"Not that I've found. I mean the murders keep getting closer and closer together…"

"That's kinda odd," Dean interrupted, "I mean most of our kind of things tend to stick to a schedule."

"Unless they have a reason to accelerate it."

"Yeah, like if the place is going to be demolished; but unless Colorado is planning on wiping out an entire city block…" Dean pointed out.

"We keep searching," Sam muttered.

Dean drummed his hands on the table and just when Sam was about to bite his head off; he jumped up, "Be right back." Sam closed his eyes, shook his head, and sighed before watching Dean sit at the bar and engage the waiter in conversation.

"Hey buddy, can I talk to you for a sec?" Dean called over the counter. The waiter finished wiping off the counter as he walked towards him. He was young, probably 16 years old, no doubt his first real job. Poor kid was the classic awkward prepubescent teenage boy; blotchy face and all.

"Yeah?"

_Work on the vocabulary dude,_ Dean though to himself. _Yes, sir. How can I help you? _"Black coffee", _two can play this game_. He sat down on one of the empty stools and pulled out his FBI badge.

"Yeah?" He looked Dean up and down. "What can I help you with, officer?" the last word dripped with sarcasm.

Dean smiled and fought the urge to punch the kid in the face. "My partner and I are investigating the deaths down the street," the kid looked unimpressed. "This is a pretty small town, I'm sure talk gets thrown around in a diner like this…"

"Yeah, I hear Mrs. Miller is having an affair with Mr. Sawyer."

Dean forced another smirk on his face, "That so." The boy nodded, "Well, I was actually wondering if you'd heard any theories about what was going on with the murders around here. You know, people who swear it must be their paper-stealing neighbor or the squirrelly young kid down at the local diner."

The kid smirked back at him and seemed to think something over, "No, I haven't heard any theories bounced around here. I mean there are the things people say about Mr. Crawford; but he's just a weird old man." His demeanor changed from reluctance to cooperation so fast it threw Dean for a loop for a second.

_And Sam says I'm not relatable to people, ha. They just have to be the right kind of people. _"This Mr. Crawford, he live anywhere near the crime scenes?"

"Nope. He lives up on Bluekerry Hill; creepy old house and all. But I'm telling ya, you're barking up the wrong tree," he shrugged his shoulders, "guy just wants to be left alone."

Dean leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah? What makes you say that?"

"Well, first of all he's my grandpa; so I know his pretty well. Second, he's been in a wheelchair since Vietnam." Dean tried to slip easily from the arrogant posture while the kid continued. "So I doubt he's sneaking out at night, driving himself into town, and then hacking up grown men."

"Logical conclusion," Dean murmured. "You ever heard about any other killings in that area? Suicides? Accidents? Those kinds of things…" he waited for the kid to tell him his name.

"Warren. Can't say as I have…" he thought for awhile, "No, nothing ringing any bells. Sorry, this is a quiet town…present topic excluded" he added.

"Well," Dean took one last sip from his cup, "Thanks Warren. You've been…" Dean searched for an appropriate adjective.

Warren chuckled, "Don't strain yourself, man."

Dean's face lit up in realization and he snapped his fingers, "A smartass, that's it." He smiled and returned to the table where Sam still sat searching through missing persons reports.


	5. Chapter 5

The sun was too bright as it came through the window and covered Nadia's body. _I miss Michigan…_she groaned in her head, _Frickin sun_. She mashed her pillow over her face and tried to get back to sleep but she was starting to feel the uncomfortable heat on her legs and she forced herself out of bed. She could hear Andrea in the kitchen and she took her time getting ready; hoping Andrea would leave before she couldn't stall any longer. Then she realized it was the weekend and Andrea wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. _Fantastic. Maybe she forgot what happened last night… _She threw her hair into a clip and slipped on some jersey shorts and a tank top before taking a deep breath and stepping into the hallway.

Andrea paused pouring cereal into a bowl and glanced up at Nadia. "Morning," her tone told Nadia that she wasn't lucky enough to get her wish. Andrea sat at the island and stared at her bowl while Nadia grabbed a juice from the fridge. Neither of them wanted to be the one to bring the topic up; so they sat in silence for a long time.

Nadia knew Andrea would be the one to cave, so she waited. It didn't take long. "So are you going to tell me what all that was about last night?" She stared at the side of Nadia's face and waited for her to turn and face her.

Nadia continued to flip the juice bottle lid between her fingers, "There isn't anything to tell. I was walking home, the cops came to an alley a little ways from where I was, it started to rain, you called, I came right here."

Andrea huffed, "That's it?" Nadia shrugged and Andrea continued, "You expect me to believe that all that weirdness, awkwardness was just the rain?"

"What weirdness?" Nadia asked defensively.

"What weirdness? Gee, I don't know. Maybe the whole you talking to me but saying that you _weren't_ talking to me. Or you almost falling on your face when I asked about the cops…" She continued to stare at Nadia, "By the way, I watched the news this morning. That wasn't any overdosed drug dealer."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Two men were found dead. Two men who just so happened to have been wanted for a string of rapes in the area…"

Nadia concentrated on screwing the top on her juice, "Sounds like someone did the city a favor." She slipped off the stool and headed back to the bedroom.

"That's what I was thinking," she stared at Nadia's back.

In that second, Nadia was positive that Andrea knew what had happened. She paused, "You don't mean that," and she walked back in the room and closed the door.

Nadia was in the middle of packing her things when Andrea knocked softly on the door. She debated whether or not she wanted her to know that she was planning on leaving that night. "Can I come in?" Andrea hesitantly asked.

Nadia dropped the bag on the floor beside her bed but made no effort to hide it, "Sure."

Andrea cautiously poked her head in the room before stepping inside. "Hey."

"Hey," Nadia sat on the bed and stared at Andrea, waiting for her to continue.

"Um," she slid her toes back and forth on the carpet, "What happened?"

Nadia looked away and didn't answer for a long time. "They attacked me and…tried to knock me unconscious and I fought back." She looked up at Andrea, analyzing her reaction. Andrea looked like she didn't understand as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "There's more…"

Andrea watched her with questioning eyes, "What is it?"

Nadia took a deep breath and blew it through her lips before she continued. "You know how people can be possessed, right?" Andrea nodded, "Well sometimes if the person is strong enough, they are awake for some of it. If they're really strong then they may even be able to break through for short spurts." She paused and thought about how she was going to continue. "I am sort of like that…but in reverse…" she was afraid to look at Andrea.

"I…don't understand," Andrea said.

Nadia sighed, "Keep in mind that you already found out that I am half demon and you took that pretty well…" Andrea smiled, and Nadia continued, "I have a voice in my head," she cringed, waiting for the accusations.

"Okay…explain."

She decided it was better to just let the words rush out of her mouth. "Her name is Aidan and she is in my head. She's like my other half; my _evil twin_," she laughed at herself. "She kind of took over the other night when I…we got attacked. I let her—even knowing what she would do—I didn't stop her."

"She _took_ over?" Nadia could hear the struggle Andrea was having in keeping her words from sounding critical.

"We sort of have an agreement. I mean I would rather she didn't exist and she would rather I didn't exist; but we do. So, she wants to take over when I am working on the task and I take over the rest of the time."

_I never agreed to that,_ Aidan snapped.

Nadia rolled her eyes upwards and sighed, _that's all I'm offering. Take it or leave it._ She could feel Aidan fuming in her head and tried to ignore it. Andrea gave her an odd look, "Sorry. She didn't agree with what I said."

"She…as in Aidan, your inner demon?"

Nadia burst out laughing and couldn't stop, soon Andrea was laughing too. Tears were running down their faces by the time they were finally able to stop. "I guess I just had so many inner demons that they literally manifested."

Andrea sighed, "It isn't fair. How much are you expected to handle?"

Nadia was surprised; she had never heard Andrea talk like this before. Nadia was about to say something when her phone rang. She jumped, grabbed her pocket and breathed a calming sigh. She glanced apologetically at Andrea and pulled the phone from her pocket. She looked at the screen but it was blank and she realized the ringing wasn't coming from the phone in her hand. She looked at Andrea, who took hers out and shook her head; it wasn't hers either. It rang again and Nadia realized where it was coming from. She reached over the side of the bed and dug into one of the bag's pocket until she felt the familiar shape of her old cell.

Before she could get the signal to open the phone to her arm; Aidan beat her to it. She couldn't even comprehend what had happened until the pieces that used to be her cell phone scattered over the floor. "No!" she stared at the wall where the phone had hit, stunned.

"Nadia, what did you do that for?" Andrea asked in surprise. Nadia didn't respond and it all clicked in Andrea's head, "Aidan?"

Nadia still didn't respond, she just continued staring in disbelief. _What did you do that for!?_

_You need to let it go! Torturing yourself, and me by the way, is not going to help anyone._

_I don't have to do this and be completely cut off!_

_Isn't that exactly what you were planning on doing to begin with?_

_Because I didn't think he would want to talk to me. But he does._

_I guarantee he didn't leave a voicemail and he was never planning on actually _talking_ to you at all. He would have hung up as soon as you answered and then you would have been wallowing all over again!_

_What do you care?_

_What don't you seem to get about 'I feel what you feel?' Only you feel it because you want to hold on to him and I can't stand him. How would you feel if I shocked you every time I thought about…I don't know…something evil?_

_I hate you!_

_Ditto! But I will take that deal. For now._

_You've got balls... _Aidan knew Nadia was thinking about it and waited for an answer, _Fine. You kill and leave me the hell alone the rest of the time!_

_Deal._

Andrea was watching Nadia's face and saw the ferocity of her side of the internal battle. It was like watching an actor act out a fight where he couldn't move his mouth at all; it was weird and fascinating.

Nadia finally broke the silence with an angry and frustrated growl at the ceiling. After closing her eyes and calming herself down, she turned to Andrea, "Sorry about that. You must really think I'm a freak show."

Andrea opened her mouth, "It was…" she struggled for the right words "…different." Nadia chuckled and Andrea continued, still a bit dazed and confused. "I mean, I have argued with myself about certain decisions before…that just must be more…" She let out a huff of surrender, "So an evil twin, huh?"

Nadia smirked, "Yeah…if you take that twin and put her in my brain. Then you pretty much get the idea."

"So can she hear like, all your thoughts?"

_Unfortunately,_ Aidan interjected. "Pretty much, yeah," she took a deep breath, "that can get uncomfortable at times." Aidan disgustedly thought about Nadia's more intimate memories of Dean; while Nadia thought back to what Aidan flashed in front of her last night and shivered.

"That must suck!" Andrea said.

"You have no idea. But at least she can't tell anyone."

_I could; but like I'd want to._ Nadia rolled her eyes at the voice in her head.

Andrea's face suddenly turned grim and she stared at the carpet, "Will they find out it was you?"

Nadia didn't need her to elaborate any further, "I don't think so. I mean Aidan was pretty thorough. She was…born…to do that. I think I will start wearing gloves from now on though. I mean, my prints aren't in the system or anything; but after this year, I don't want to have to worry about everything I touch."

"You think you can do it," Andrea looked up at her.

Even though she said it was a statement, it was obvious it was meant as a question. "I have to." She paused for a long time and thought, "I grew up with everyone thinking I was a freak, which" she chuckled, "it turns out I am. But they didn't know that; I didn't know that. Then this one guy raises his hand to answer a question and he's wrong; and I correct him. The average Joe wouldn't be able to get over his bruised ego. But he became my friend and then I find out he grew up hunting monsters… Any normal person would have thought he was crazy; but I was happy, ecstatic actually, I found hope in his crazy stories. Maybe he could help me find out what killed my family. But then his apartment catches on fire and he disappears." It was quiet for a long time until Nadia brought herself back to the present day, "Then one day I'm studying in the library and, low and behold, there he is. And I meet his brother, hate him, hate that I'm starting to like him, make out with him, and then fall for him." She smirked but quickly grew serious, "And even when he finds out that I am half demon, something he hates and hunts every chance he gets, he doesn't leave." She looked at Andrea for the first time in awhile, "How could I not believe that I can do this? For him.

"Do you know how hard it is to change what your past has made you? You get so used to keeping your head down; trying not to make anyone dislike you anymore than they already do. You end up becoming this person frozen into a certain shape…and you think, 'I'll melt someday. I'll find out who I'm really gonna be. I'll melt; I have to right?' But what so many fail to realize is that ice needs change to melt. It needs warmth and…if we continue to wait for us to melt and do nothing to change our lives; we are doing nothing to warm the air around us.

"If I just kept living like I was; like I killed everyone around me. If I hadn't allowed myself to care so much about Dean; then…" she paused for a long time, struggling with what she was about to say, "I don't know what would have happened to me. If Cyprien had found me earlier; I would either be dead or I wouldn't know there was something that made it so worth fighting becoming what would be so much easier to be. Dean warmed the air around me…" she rolled her eyes, "as cheesy as that sounds. I allowed myself to melt." She stopped for a long time, staring at place where her phone had hit the wall. "I may end up paying for that; but I'll never regret it. And I'm gonna try as hard as I can to pay him back for what he did for me. No matter what that means."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Found anything yet?" Dean asked again.

"Not since the last time you asked…" Sam looked at his watch, "two minutes ago." Dean huffed and continued staring out the window and fidgeting. "Why don't you just call her?"

Dean's head snapped in Sam's direction, "I don't know who you're talking about." Sam rolled his eyes and looked back at the computer. "Look, what if this really isn't our kind of thing? I mean what if there really is just some serial killer running around out there; so there is nothing to find?"

"Dude, if that's the case then how does this guy get around without ever being seen in the middle of downtown on the side of the road? And, how does he get the jump on over-muscled grown men?"

"I don't know; but if we don't find something soon…"

"What? You're gonna leave? Dean, it's been a day and a half. We've spent longer than this on research on a lot of cases. Just take a deep breath, relax, and…" Sam slides a stack of papers towards Dean, "it would go a lot faster if you helped out."

Dean took a second to try and think of another excuse; but he came up empty and settled more comfortably into his chair before setting the papers on his lap.

Three hours and many complaints later, Dean was starting to drift off when something grabbed his attention. "Might have actually found something," he handed the paper to Sam.

"Man attacked outside jewelry store; critical condition…" Sam glanced up at Dean. "You think he's like that doctor's daughter a few months back? Haunting people while not completely crossed over?"

Dean raised his eye brows, "Okay Jennifer Love. It's not that uncommon; I mean I did it. You talked to me at the hospital after the crash and I wasn't completely gone yet." He stood up and stretched, "But, no I don't think that." He handed Sam another paper, "This Emmett Hale, died last week…a few days before the killings started."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Sam said and Dean smirked and shrugged. "Did they ever find out who killed him?"

"I don't know. I didn't get that far," Dean grabbed a beer and plopped back into his chair and waited for Sam to read further.

Sam started to open his mouth to yell at Dean but he bit his lip and closed his eyes while he tried to calm himself down. He looked over the paper quickly and found what he was looking for, "As of the day he died, there are still no suspects. This could be it."

"I have been doing this longer than you Sammy; you don't have to sound so surprised." Sam just smirked. "So does this mean we're done with the homework and get to go a field trip now?" Dean bounced up and down with feigned excitement.

"That depends…"

Dean stopped mid-bounce, "On what?"

"Did you remember your permission slip?"

Dean rolled his eyes and was already walking towards the door before Sam even had the computer closed.

Dean pulled the Impala up to the curb at the end of the walkway that led to Jasper Morris' house. The police officer was the latest victim and had direct ties to Emmett Hale. Sam handed Dean his fake F.B.I. badge and they found Mrs. Morris digging in the flower beds around the front steps.

"So Mrs. Morris, your husband was leaving the gym that night?" Sam asked.

Leah Morris pulled the gardening gloves off her hands before speaking, "No. There was this mission just down from the gym you're talking about." She cleared her throat, "He used to go down there every weekend and drop off leftovers from some of the local restaurants. It wasn't exactly allowed; but he said it was his little way of helping." She shook her head, "Which is stupid, I know. He was a cop after all; he helped a lot of people."

"He did that every weekend?"

"Like clockwork," she glanced from Dean to Sam. "You think whoever did this learned his routine, followed him. Easy way to kill a cop; knowing their every move outside of the precinct." Sam and Dean's eye brows shot upward and they glanced at each other. "My husband was a cop and though he lived it everyday; he watched a lot of Law & Order. After awhile you get pretty good at guessing their next move."

Dean got sidetracked, "Oh yeah, SVU; Mariska's hot," he stared off into the distance. Sam cleared his throat to pull his brother back to reality, "Oh. Sorry, I get easily distracted."

She gave him an odd look, "Yeah, you and my husband both."

Sam jumped in before Dean could get started again, "Your husband was the lead investigator in the case of Emmett Hale, correct?"

Surprise flashed across Leah's face before she looked away. "Yeah, he was the first one to get to the scene. It was horrible…" she paused for awhile, "that one stuck with him. He kept saying that he should have gotten there faster; that it was his fault. But he got there before everyone else… That was when he started going to the mission. I think he felt like…like somehow he could make him wake up; make Emmett get better…"

"Why did he feel so guilty about this case? Why did he take it so hard?"

"He did all he could, I know that; but he didn't. He felt like he should have known something to do to keep him conscious or to stop some of the damage. Rebecca didn't make it any easier…"

"Rebecca?" Dean interrupted.

"Emmett's wife. Sorry, maybe you know her as Becca; that's what he always called her."

"What did you mean; 'she didn't make it any easier?'" Dean asked.

"She just pressured him a lot. To find out what happened. Understandably; I'd want to know too…but it took a toll on him. He hardly ever looked like he wasn't thinking about it. He was always beating himself up. She called everyday, until the day Emmett died." She stopped herself, as if just remembering something, "The last conversation they had was intense. Jasper took it hard and I'm pretty sure she was yelling at him…I don't know why. He was even worse after that…"

"You don't know what she said to make him so upset?" Sam gently asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea. She was always pretty understanding, you know. I mean she wanted to know who killed her husband; but she never got nasty about it."

"Could it have been something else?"

She looked at him confused for a long time, "Like what?"

Sam glanced uncomfortably at Dean, "She was a widow….and she might have…found comfort in Jasper."

"Are you asking me if I think my husband could have been cheating on me?" She stared at Sam until he looked away. "My husband has his past just like everyone else; but he changed a long time ago."

"No offense, mam, but how can you be sure?" Dean asked.

"Because the last time he was with another woman, I got in a car accident. A drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned me at 70 mph. The ER did everything they could to keep me alive while they tried to reach him. I needed someone to sign papers to do some procedure; and I have no other family so he was…who I needed. He just…didn't answer. Finally someone saw that he was a police officer and they called the station and had them radio him. He came right down, signed the papers, stayed there all week and he hasn't strayed since. So, you ask how I can know that he wasn't cheating on me; that's how. He realized what he could lose and didn't like that reality." She looked straight at Dean, "Near death experiences with the ones you love; they make you realize what you can and can't live without…they change you."

Dean couldn't look away, until Sam cleared his throat, "Well, thank you Mrs. Morris. We apologize for the forwardness and we're very sorry about your loss." Dean glanced from Sam to her and nodded in uncommitted agreement before he followed Sam back to the car.

"Guess we better so and see Rebecca Hale…" Sam glanced over at Dean.

Dean's head snapped to face Sam, "Huh?"

"I said I guess we need to go and talk to Rebecca Hale. So we can find out what was going on with her and Jasper."

"Yeah…" Dean settled into the seat, "Where we going?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"_Are you ever going to actually let me out to have some fun? If we don't get started soon, we'll run out of time and your precious Dean will die." _ Aidan was yet again pestering Nadia about how long she was going to wait until she started making good on her deal.

"I am one step ahead of you. I already have a plan; I found a place to start. How do you not know this already?" Nadia asked Aidan aloud.

"_You think I just set up here all day long listening to everything you think?" _ Aidan mocked Nadia's voice, _"'Do I look fat in these pants? I wonder who thought of calling a poster a poster? What ever made someone look at a potato and say 'I wonder what this tastes like.' How did they even find it to begin with? Was it an accident, did they just stumble across it?' Seriously! Like I want to listen to that all day long…"_

Nadia couldn't help but listen and laugh, "Did I really think that?"

"_Pathetically, on more than one occasion."_

"Wow," she laughed at herself, "sorry."

"_The point is I just block you out most of the time; so no, I didn't know you had anything fun planned."_

"I don't know how fun it will be…"

"_Your idea of fun and mine greatly differ."_

"True."

"_So what's the plan?" _ Aidan eagerly asked.

"Did you know that the only states without the death penalty are: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin?"

"_Who cares?"_

Nadia huffed, "I do and so do you."

"_And why is that?"_

"Wow you really don't listen very often do you?"

"_Haven't we already established the reasons why? Now, moving on…why do I care?"_

"Because California does have the death penalty; so they have a death row. Which means that they have a cell block full of people (675 according to the website) that are already set to die. We…you, I mean, can go in there and subtract them from our agreed on 1,000 souls." She smiled smugly to herself.

Nadia could feel Aidan smirk, _"A loop hole. Nice."_

"Thank you," she bowed. "And, thinking like you, if we can take all of them out; that only leaves us 325…no, 323 (with the two men from the other night) souls left to gather. There was a reason I wanted to hit California up first. They have the highest number of inmates sitting on death row."

"_I must admit, I am impressed; you are speaking of killing people so cavalierly. It seems you have finally come to accept your new role…"_

"I don't feel any more indifferent about this killing thing than I ever did before. But I have to think like a business woman. I have a huge task to perform and the smarter I am about completing it; the sooner I can get it done and the sooner I can see Dean."

Aidan sighed, _"You really don't want me to have any fun do you?"_

Nadia laughed, "A thousand souls in a couple of months…I think you'll make quite an intimidating name for yourself."

She could feel Aidan thinking that idea over, _"Alright so you have a point,"_ she grudgingly admitted. _"So, when do we get to go?"_ she was busting with excited anticipation.

Nadia rolled her eyes, "It's not a fieldtrip to the zoo, it's San Quentin for crying out loud."

"_Actually it will be a lot like a trip to the zoo… Angry, horny men in cages…it will be just like a visit to the guerilla exhibit," _they both laughed.

"There is still a lot of planning to do before we go anywhere." She felt Aidan groan, "You can tide yourself over with planning the whole thing."

"_Okay, so we'll have to stake the place out so that we can see exactly where all the entrances and exits are. Where all the cameras are located and then we have to figure out how we're going to take them out and get over the fence…"_

"Yeah…or we could just knock out a guard and take on his appearance and then just…walk through the front door. I know it's a little out there, but…" Nadia mocked.

"_Ugh, you have no flare for the dramatic! Could you come up with a more boring plan?"_

"I believe the word you are looking for is _safer_."

"_Because safe is so much fun!"_

"I am not doing this for fun."

Aidan rolled her figurative eyes, _"I know. But we had an agreement; I get to take over the body when we get there. So you will have no say in what I do or do not do. Huh, do or do not do…"_

"Sometimes it's like having a five year old in my brain. You are greatly mistaken if you think I will have no say in what you do. If you're going to go out all half-cocked; then you won't be going out at all," Nadia crossed her arms.

"_Fine," _Aidan huffed_, "I will think about every move before I make it and be smart about it and logical and boring… And I swear to…I swear that I will not do anything that will get me into trouble with you or anyone else. God, it's like living in a covenant," _Aidan complained.

Nadia couldn't help but smile at Aidan's rant, "Good. Because I will be listening to everything you think and if I don't like it…you are going back to the nuns."

"_Funny."_

Nadia had been scouring the internet for any map of San Quentin's layout for 2 hours; but was coming up with nothing.

"_We're just gonna have to go there," _Aidan said again.

"Fine, we'll go. But there is only so much that one can see from outside and we still don't even know where death row is. Got any bright ideas?"

"_Well, remember your boring plan from before? We can do that now. I want them to see my face for the actual event; but just for recon, it'll do."_

"You mean becoming one of the guards?"

"_Do you not remember your own plans?"_

"Do you have to be such a smart ass?"

"_Demon."_

"Human."

"_Not completely."_

"Ditto. Moving on," she sneered, "we should find someone who isn't on duty."

"_Why? That's just more work when we could just come up behind some guy as he walks in and stuff him in his trunk."_

"And then we have to worry about cameras, witnesses, and a guy who wakes up in his trunk and raises the alert at the prison."

Aidan sighed, _"Such a stickler for details."_

Nadia looked at the clock, "It's 4:30 now; if we leave soon we can get there by maybe 10:00 at night… I hate California traffic! And then we still have to find an off duty officer…" she turned back to the computer and began searching for any mentions of current employees.

"_What about him?"_ Aidan asked.

"You mean the Warden?"

"_Yeah. I bet he could get us into all sorts of places…"_

"I am not going to attack the frick'in warden!"

"_Well, why not?"_

"Because…he's the frick'in warden!"

"_I really don't see what the difference is between attacking him or a guard when we are just doing it so that we can ultimately get in there and kill 675 people. Does it really matter who other people see!?"_

"The warden is high profile and he's probably there like, all the time. How are we gonna look like him and then walk into a prison that he is already inside of? I think someone will notice the sudden appearance of a second Robert K. Wong!"

"_I'm not an idiot! We'll wait until he is leaving for the night and then you can do what you did to Dean and make him fall asleep. Then you can walk back in the place, pretend like you forgot something, and when it's all over and you have a prison map in hand, walk back out and let him wake up none the wiser. He'll drive home thinking that he was just really tired and fell asleep in his car."_

Nadia tried desperately to find some blatant reason this idea wouldn't work; but was coming up blank. With each passing second, Aidan listened to her thoughts and grew more and more smug. "Fine. We should still go up there tonight and try to learn as much of his routine as we can before we attempt this."

"_Very Girl Scout of you."_

"Be prepared."


	8. Chapter 8

The Hale house looked more like it belonged in a quaint little town in England; than in the middle of Lakewood, Colorado. It was small and charming; complete with an overcrowded flower garden and strings of ivy making their way up the house. For some reason it made Sam and Dean feel strangely opposed to what they were about to do.

Dean knocked on the door and fidgeted uneasily as they waited for Rachel to answer the door. They could hear footsteps coming from inside and Dean settled himself just as the handle turned.

Rachel was strikingly beautiful, in a non-classic way. She was average height and weight, with long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Her face was square and strong; with full lips, one brow arched slightly more than the other, and her nose went perfectly with the rest of her features. She looked from Dean to Sam and waited for them to speak. After a few seconds she initiated conversation, "Can I help you?"

Her eyes had caught both of the boys' attention and they were both hard to look away from and hard to look at. They made Dean feel uneasy and he was the first to respond, "Hi. I'm Agent Hatfield, this is Agent Hammett," Dean and Sam showed their badges. "We would like to ask you a few questions for you."

"We're sorry about your loss," Sam quickly added.

Rachel looked away and took a deep breath, "Did you find out who killed him?"

Hope faintly colored her question; which made Sam and Dean feel even worse about their coming conversation. "I'm sorry, no we haven't yet," Sam softly responded.

Her face fell and she struggled to steady her voice, "Then what do you want?"

"We're here about Jasper Morris," Dean responded.

"What about him?"

"He was killed the other day…"

"I know that," she snapped, "…it's a small town."

"Right, well we…" Dean tried to find some way of getting their questions answered without being brutally blunt. "We have been talking with Mrs. Morris and she said that you talked with him on the phone a lot. We thought maybe he had said something to you about being followed or threatened…"

Anger flashed in her eyes for a split second before it was replaced with surprise. "Oh, um…" she thought about their question for awhile, "no, nothing jumps out at me. I mean I think I would remember something like a threat."

Sam jumped in, "Well, it may not have sounded like a threat at the time. Did he mention any suspects or leads…the smallest thing could help."

"No, he never had any suspects or leads," anger was biting at the back of her words. "He never had anything." She paused and fought to get control of her self, "A year…and he never found anything. He always said he was working on it and I thought he was…he made me believe that. But…someone must have seen something, heard something; but every day it was, 'I'm sorry Rachel, there just isn't anything new. No one knows anything about your husband being attacked.'" Rachel's façade was cracking, tears started to roll down her cheek and she let them fall.

Sam put his hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her; but she winced and pulled away. "I'm sorry; we're sorry for your loss. Unfortunately the answers we want just can't always come."

She looked up at him for a long time before saying, "That's my phone. I should get that." She looked at Dean, "You know where to find me…" she stepped back inside and closed the door before either of them could respond.

"Nice going Dr. Phil," Dean told Sam as he started down the stairs.

Sam looked confused and quickly hopped down the stairs after Dean, "What do you mean?"

Dean looked questioningly back at his brother, "What do I mean? Did you hear her phone ring?" Sam looked back at the house with a thoughtful look, "You ticked her off; would've ticked me off too." Sam still looked confused so Dean stopped at turned to face him, "'Unfortunately the answers we want just can't always come?' You trying to make her suicidal?"

"I was just trying to tell her the truth," Sam shot back.

"Well, why stop there? You shoulda just said, 'Your husband's killer will most likely never be found; get over it.'"

"Oh come on, Dean! You have a problem with what I said? You're usually the one going in there, guns drawn, and accusing people just like her of killing their loved one!"

"Yeah, well I guess we've both changed," Dean opened the driver's side door.

"You've definitely changed. Nadia made you a practically different person." Dean stopped halfway in the car and stood back up and stared angrily at Sam over the top of the Impala. "Oh yeah, I forgot. She-who-must-not-be-named…well screw that! You fell in love and she, by some reason that's beyond me, fell in love with you too. So much so that she gave up the person she was to save your ungrateful ass!"

Dean turned white, "What?"

Sam looked away and tried to backtrack, "What?" he innocently asked.

"Sam, what do you mean she gave up the person she was?"

Sam stared at his brother and tried to think of some way to change the subject, it was hopeless. He sighed in surrender, "I can't tell you. I promised her."

"Is she, is she going dark…"

"No! God, Dean. She just had to do something that changed the _type_ of person she is."

"As in she's not human anymore?"

"What? No. Dean, she isn't a demon or evil in anyway; okay?"

"Is she something we would try to stop? Something we would hunt?" Dean stared relentlessly at his brother.

Sam swallowed and thought quickly. _Technically she's a reaper; which we might want to stop but can't… She is killing people before their time. But they are going to die eventually and she is trying hard to only kill those who deserve it. Think of how many people we've killed because we had to; there was no other choice…_ "No. No she isn't anything we would hunt," Sam truthfully told his brother. By the look on Dean's face he knew he had taken too long to answer. Even if he, himself didn't think Nadia was something to hunt; Dean could very well think otherwise.


	9. Chapter 9

Nadia had decided to wait and leave in the morning so that they would have all day to learn the prison schedule and form an infiltration plan. The ride to San Quentin had been long and full of frustration and she was starting to regret her decision. The traffic seemed unusually heavy, even for California. Nadia's nerves were to the point of breaking and Aidan's added comments weren't helping. _Blinkers people, blinkers! How hard is that? Oh, come on it's the longer pedal on the right!_

By the time Nadia pulled the bike into the prison parking lot, she felt she was about to either burst into tears or kill someone. _I miss Michigan,_ she repeated again to herself.

"I told you we should have rented a car. We look so inconspicuous sitting on a crotch rocket staring at a prison…" Nadia groaned to Aidan.

"_And you're just adding to the whole picture by talking to yourself," _Aidan pointed out.

"Good, that's what I was going for," Nadia snapped back; as she did so, a couple walking by quickened their pace and glanced cautiously back at her. She rolled her eyes and ignored Aidan's further comments. She was emotionally exhausted and the sun and curious eyes weren't helping any.

"Can I help you?"

Nadia jumped and spun around to face the deep voice that had come from behind her. She was dumbstruck when she immediately recognized the face that stared back at her. On the opposite side of the bike, waiting for an answer, stood Robert K. Wong; the warden of San Quentin prison. All she could think to say was the first thing that naturally popped in her head, "Oh, you scared the crap out of me," her hand pressed against her chest.

"Sorry about that;" he smiled. "I just noticed you standing there for awhile and wondered if you needed to make a phone call or something." Nadia frantically searched for a reason that would explain why she had been sitting on a parked bike outside a prison in the hot sun for 4 hours. He mistook her desperate thinking for confusion, "For a, uh…a ride…"

"Oh, no I'm uh…waiting for someone," she tried to make the sentence sound more like a statement than a question; but wasn't doing it very well.

"An employee?"

Before she could answer, Aidan jumped in, _"Just repeat after me." _Nadia was hesitant to follow her instructions; but was afraid of hesitating herself into suspicion so she listened to what Aidan had to say.

"_Yeah, my boyfriend. I am starting to get the feeling that he got his shifts mixed up; but he won't answer his phone so that I can find out if he's alright."_ The words were coming flawlessly off Nadia's tongue and she was acting every bit as blasé as they sounded. She was starting to think Aidan was coming out a little too much again. "_Oh, don't worry about that!"_

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Nadia snapped and then immediately realized she wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Aidan laughed, _"You still afraid I'm taking over too much?"_

The warden stepped back, "Sorry, I…I just thought you could use a little help…"

"No," Nadia threw up her hands in an attempt to stop him. "Sorry," she slyly reached her hand into her pocket and grabbed her Bluetooth earpiece, "I, was talking to someone else…" she brushed her hair behind her ear and slipped the piece on and turned her ear towards him. "Technology," she smiled and laughed it off.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he laughed. "It's California; I thought you were talking with some voice in your head or something."

Nadia laughed, "Yeah, there are a lot of crazy people around here…"

"You're not from around here, I take it."

"No, I'm from Mi…nnesota," he gave her an odd look. "Sorry, hiccup."

"Would you like me to get your boyfriend out here? I'm the warden; I can get him down here with one call…"

"_Gross, dude you're like 50!"_ Aidan said in disgust.

_Would you shut up! _Nadia thought back.

"_Oh yes, because all girls fantasize about prison wardens…" _Aidan sarcastically groaned.

Nadia burst out laughing but quickly stopped herself and covered it with a fake cough, "Sorry, I had a tickle." She returned her attention to the warden, "You were saying?"

"Uh, do you want me to go and get your boyfriend to come down here?"

"Right," she said to herself. "Thanks, but no. I'm gonna try calling him again and if he doesn't answer I'm going to go get something to eat; I've been out here awhile…"

The warden started to turn and walk to the prison, "Alright; but if you still can't get a hold of him and you come back, just go to the front door and ask for me."

Aidan rolled her eyes. "Thanks, that's really sweet." She started to get on the bike but stopped and turned to try and catch him before he got too far away. "Can I ask you a weird question?"

"_Great, now he's gonna think you want to ask him out…"_ Aidan groaned; but Nadia ignored her.

"Sure," the warden started to walk back to her.

"I know this is a really weird thing to ask…but; I've heard so many different things." She paused and waited to see what his reaction would be; when he only looked expectant, she continued. "Where is death row? I mean I've heard that it is the wing closest to the water so that if they escaped they would have to go back by the entire prison. But I've also heard that it is at a completely different compound…" She tried to talk fast and all over the place to make him feel more comfortable with why she would be asking such a thing.

He raised his hand to stop her and chuckled, "It is here, first of all. And who ever told you about the water thing is right on. The wing pointed directly at the pacific, directly across from where we're standing, is death row. You should've just asked your boyfriend, he would've known."

Nadia and Aidan were completely engrossed in what he was saying; already planning their escape. "Huh? Oh, yeah well we try not to talk about work too much… Anyway, it was nice meeting you," she quickly threw her hair back and pulled on her helmet. Before he could even get halfway to the front steps, she was pulling out of the parking lot and headed to nowhere in particular.


	10. Chapter 10

The tension that had been present since they left Nadia's was finally beginning to cease; but this new argument snapped it back into place. Sam knew that for awhile Dean would only speak to him when absolutely necessary and then things would shift and it would be like it had never happened. The silence wasn't the bad part; it was the discomfort that he felt being around someone he was around practically 24/7.

_He's being such a baby,_ Sam thought to himself as he, yet again, walked the infamous city block. _At least he has a chance of ever seeing her again; that's more than I got._ He had to back track a few paces before he reached the alley where Jeffrey Weston had been killed. At first glance it looked like every other alley in the world. There was no visible stain on the concrete, no spatters of blood coloring the walls, or obvious signs of struggle. He glanced from the ground to the wall not knowing where to start. _Alright, I just killed someone... First, I have to get out of here…_ He glanced around him for possible escape roots. _Run out this or the other end of the alley of course, or…_he paused at the manhole cover behind him, _please not again…_ He continued looking in hopes of finding a more sanitary escape path. The bottom of a fire escape ladder caught his eye. The ladder provided a great escape route; except for the fact that it was about eight feet off the ground. Sam jumped but was still unable to reach the bottom rung.

Suddenly a door in the alley behind him opened and Sam grabbed his phone and held it to his ear. A young girl stepped through the door and struggled to keep hold of the box she was carrying. Sam put his phone back in his pocket and hurried over to help her. "Please don't rip, please don't rip…" she kept saying to herself. She was almost to the dumpster when the handle started to give way, "No, no, no. Not yet," she quickened her pace.

"Here, let me help you with that," Sam offered.

The girl screamed, jumped, and spun around to see him. As she stopped herself, the handles completely ripped away and the box crashed to the ground. She looked from Sam to the box and dropped her head and her shoulders in defeat, "Crap."

Sam chuckled, "Let me get that…" He slid his fingers beneath the box and lifted it to his waist, "In the dumpster?"

She was wiping her hands on her pants, "You can just set it on the stack beside the dumpster… Just because he calls me mighty mouse, doesn't mean I can lift a car over my head. They call him tiny and he weighs 300 lbs…" she angrily mumbled to herself.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked.

She sighed and smiled, "Yeah. You know, you shouldn't sneak up behind people in allies."

"Sorry," he pulled out his badge, "I'm just taking a look around."

"That was like two weeks ago; you really think there's anything left to see?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "You never know… Hey, do you remember anything about that night?"

"You mean other than the sirens and swarms of on-lookers?" She paused, "No. I mean there wasn't really anything around the dead _body_ that jumped out at me and said, 'Hey I'm weird.'" Sam laughed and shook his head. "What?" she asked in response.

"You just really remind me of someone," he smiled.

"Hum," she paused for a long time and glanced anywhere but directly at Sam. "So…did you find anything?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders, "Not really. I mean I figured that the perp had to get away somehow…"

"Wow, a real leap to come to that conclusion, seeing as how the killer wasn't caught; but I guess that's why they give you the suit, huh?" she sarcastically interrupted him.

Sam gave his usual annoyed but coping and polite smile which he had perfected over years of working with Dean and continued his thought. "…but I can't quite figure that one out."

She looked from one end of the alley to the other, "Well, I'm guessing it's a fifty/fifty shot…"

He was so used to speaking his thoughts and ideas with Dean that he didn't even think about what he was doing. "I doubt if it left either of those two ways…"

"It?"

"He or she…it. It probably found some other, safer route of escape… I thought maybe it used the fire escape; but even I can't reach that…" he looked thoughtfully at the ladder.

The girl followed his gaze and thought about how she, herself, would get to the ladder. A sudden memory came back to her, "Hey…I do kinda remember something weird about that night; well the next day anyway." She thought for awhile, "I don't know if they were like that the _night_ it happened; but the next day some of our boxes were piled right under that ladder."

"Like someone moved them, you mean?"

"We always put them next to the dumpster and then, Al (this big guy that works here) comes out and puts them inside. But when I came out here they were way over there. I figured some of the stupid neighborhood boys that hangout around here were being… well, stupid."

"Those boxes were the same as these ones here? Like the one you carried out?"

She nodded, "Three of them. Stacked like…a pyramid."

"Like steps…" Sam said to himself.

"Anyway, I gotta get back inside. Anything else?" she asked as she walked back to the door.

"Uh, no… Thank you," he answered. She nodded and pulled the door closed behind her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Nadia ended up at the nearest hotel. She quickly paid and headed straight to her room. She tried to keep herself preoccupied with transferring her toiletries from her small bag to the bathroom counter. Meanwhile Aidan planned; fantasized would probably be a more fitting word; she saw explosions and a Mission Impossible style entrance. Nadia laughed and rolled her eyes at that one.

Once there was no longer a thing to be taken care of or straightened, Nadia sat in the middle of the bed. "Okay, slow down there cowboy. We have to first plan out the best…and most realistic, entrance; and then, and only then can you start fantasizing about what you'll do once inside."

Aidan gave a figurative sigh, _"You are such a party pooper."_

"And you are such a child," Nadia shot back.

Aidan gave what would translate into sticking out her tongue in response. _"Okay, well if we're gonna think boringly…I say we do what we thought of first."_

"You mean what I thought of first? Or yours?" she asked.

"_What's the difference?"_

"Well, if I remember correctly; my idea was to knock out a guard and take his appearance and yours was to take out all the cameras and hop the fence."

"_Yours..." _she grudgingly responded; but quickly added, _"I get a little over zealous sometimes."_

"Sometimes," Nadia said under her breath. "Anyway…if we take out the first guard we see, where are we gonna put him?"

"_That depends; does he need air or not?"_

"What do you think?"

"_Right, boring… Do you know how to hotwire a car?"_

"Give me five minutes and the internet and yes, I do."

"_You steal a van, shut him inside, keep him unconscious to the world and we're as good as in."_

"Great, so not only am I gonna break into a prison to kill over 600 people; but I have to tack on a few more felonies while I'm at it. It's dang near irresistible."

"_Quit whining about the details. Try and remember the big picture here. Once this is done, we only have 325 left to go…" _she was growing less and less enthusiastic as she spoke.

"Don't even think about having second thoughts about this! You are so doing this. I know the numbers are shrinking much faster than you would like; but you'll just have to deal with it."

"_Don't worry about me. I'm not the one who you have to worry about flaking… Just remember to keep yourself in check. Yes I would like a bit more time; but like you said, I'm gonna make a damn good name for myself after this little adventure. And for you…gloves."_

Nadia had made her way through three different cars and one van by the time Aidan was confident in her internet-gotten talent. She pulled off the new black leather gloves she had purchased at a Harley Davidson dealership and dropped them on the bed. On her way back to the hotel, she passed a moving company with a parking lot full of a variety of sizes of vans and panel trucks. In a moment of inspiration, Nadia came up with a plan that even Aidan was vastly impressed by. Now it all came down to the details.

They spent the next three hours making calls and planning out every aspect of the settled on plan. Nadia practiced taking on different appearances in front of the bathroom mirror and doing the same to various items in the room. She changed the cheap, paper covered table to cow, motorcycle, and what ever else came to mind. Soon she could change the appearance of the entire room around her without more concentration than it took to dial a phone number. They were both growing more and more confident that everything would go smoothly. That is until they thought about the fact that once they made it inside the prison, all bets were off.

"_Would you focus on the good here? You are such a pessimist," _Aidan huffed.

"I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. Ever heard of my good friend Murphy? He came up with this unfortunate; but pretty much true law…"

"_Like I said, pessimist. You are forgetting about something very important that Murphy didn't factor into his stupid law." _Aidan waited while Nadia thought about that, _"Us. Together we can make everyone in that prison think that they are…blind and deaf."_

"A few maybe; but not all of them. I don't even know how much I can keep up in the air…let alone while I'm also trying to pull off a mass murder."

"_Then, we'll have to find out…"_ Aidan responded.

Nadia took the 580 from San Quentin to University of California Berkeley's massive campus. She parked the bike in the first place she could find and took a second to look at all the commotion around her. _"You have to try to fit in…"_ Aidan pointed out. Nadia took her riding jacket off and draped it over her arm, shoved the key in her pocket, and let her hair fall around her shoulders. _This shouldn't be so hard,_ she thought to herself. _I was one of these guys just a few months ago._

Aidan was scanning the area ahead of them, _"Yeah, yeah poor you. Moving on…" _She focused on an area in front of one of the buildings where people sat studying amongst all the crossing foot traffic. _"There."_

"Why there?" she asked.

Aidan sighed, _"Because there are a lot of people. The more people, the more we can see just what you can do."_

"I'm not a car," Nadia thought in reply.

She merged into the flow of traffic and fell into step behind a small group of obviously freshman girls. For awhile Nadia focused on their conversation. The blonde in the middle was definitely the queen bee; she made sure everyone's attention stayed on her. "I swear, if he breaks up with me before that party this weekend; I'm gonna die! I have so much to deal with right now. I have a test today _and_ one the day after tomorrow," she sighed, "I can hardly cope." Nadia was suddenly over come with a powerful urge to push her down onto her pretty little over-worked face. _Boyfriends and parties and tests, oh my! How dare a college schedule two tests in the same week as a party! OMG. Why don't you try selling your soul to the devil! Or committing mass murder? I'd like to hear you complain about your idgit of a boyfriend then,_ Nadia fumed in her head.

Aidan was quiet and listened while a smile grew bigger and bigger on her mental face, _"Now this side of you I like."_

Nadia gave a wicked little smirk, "Watch and learn."

Nadia focused hard on the back of the girl's head; while the girl dug in her purse for something. She pulled out a compact and looked at herself in the mirror. She screamed and dropped the compact. The other girls jumped and stared at her, "What happened?" one girl asked.

Nadia stepped around them and couldn't help herself, "Zit?" The girl stopped and glared at her before staring after Nadia as she walked away. Nadia heard her huff after her as she walked away.

"What happened?" another girl asked.

"I don't know. I looked in the mirror and I saw…I saw…a clown…" the blonde replied. Nadia listened to the conversation trail off as she continued toward the center of the square.

Aidan laughed and watched Nadia's thoughts closely. _"You want me to like you…"_ she stated with an air of haughtiness.

Nadia's pace faltered for a second, "I do not. I don't care what you think about me."

Aidan laughed, _"You do. You want me to like you. You are a people pleaser."_

"I am not," she fought to keep her side of the conversation inside her head. "I've spent my entire life pushing people away, avoiding them."

"_Yes, because people avoided you for so long. But once someone comes around that doesn't steer clear of you; you try anything you can to keep it that way. Therefore; people pleaser,"_ Aidan declared.

As Nadia stepped inside the square, she ignored Aidan and her pompous attitude and focused on the commotion around her. "Now what?"

Aidan reluctantly shifted gears, _"Now, you make them see something."_

"Alright, I get it…but what do I make them see? Something that will get their attention…" she was coming up blank.

"_Would you put that Bluetoe, or whatever you call it in your ear; so people don't think you're crazy?"_

Nadia laughed, "Tooth, Bluetooth. Liked I'd want to put a Bluetoe in my ear…"

"_But you don't mind a tooth?"_ Aidan pointed out.

Nadia conceded that one and slipped the device around her ear. _What about a sign that says something…?_

"_Oh, now you talk in your head… Says something like what? 'If you can see this stand on your head?'"_

Nadia bit her tongue, "You got an idea I'm all for hearing it." She watched an image pass through Aidan's mind. "No, I am not going to make them see a flying saucer!"

"_Why not? It would totally work!"_ Aidan snapped back.

"Yeah, for those looking into the sky!" she paused and watched more images in Aidan's mind. "No tigers or people with guns or ships either!" she responded irritated.

"_Fine, then what would you suggest?"_

She thought for awhile, "Well, I could start with making people stop and then work up to the vision stuff…" She could feel Aidan looking for an argument; _drop it,_ she warned.

She focused on people as they passed and pushed Aidan to the back of her mind. She zeroed in on the first person that caught her attention. The first victim was a young man whose hurried pace caught her attention. She almost felt bad doing it; but she focused on her goal. The man stopped a few paces away and anyone else would've thought he was trying to remember something he'd forgotten. He stood there looking dazed and confused and Nadia moved on to the next person.

"_You don't want to have to wait until you can see every person who comes around at the prison. You have to stop them without looking at them; a mass stoppage would be preferable."_

"Sounds like a health problem to me," Nadia muttered. She looked at the ground at her feet and focused on projecting the inaction to those around her. Slowly, the sounds around her grew quieter and quieter. She tried not to focus on the success she was having and on the continuation of it instead. She carefully raised her head and looked around her. Everyone in a 35 foot radius were standing still and staring at their feet. Those outside the circle hardly seemed to notice; they assumed it was some sort of protest. Like testing the door of a closet stuffed with toys, she little by little eased her strain on the hold she had on them. She found that she was able to keep them in place with much less effort, the longer she held them. After two minutes, holding them was as easy as juggling three balls; she wanted to test herself more.

She pushed the feeling out as hard as she could again and slowly more people stopped further out in the circle. She was holding at least 70 people within a 45 foot radius when she started to feel the strain on her body and her grasp started to slip. She looked around her and tried to let only certain people go about their business. One by one she picked people from all areas of the circle and they walked away. After 20 minutes she couldn't hold them any longer and in a split second the entire group jumped back to what they were doing. Only a few glanced around in confusion before walking away.

_How about we say that the whole vision has about the same range?_ Nadia thought to herself.

Aidan had used all she could gather to help Nadia and strengthen her hold and she was feeling the affects of it as well. _"Sounds good to me. Besides, if we do have a problem at the prison; we won't be taking on that many at a time."_

"I should hope not," Nadia said. _"_Let's call it an even 40 feet and at most, 45 people; just to be safe."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Hey, Bobby," Dean said.

"Dean. What can't you idgits figure out this time?" Bobby responded with his usual loving annoyance.

Dean rolled his eyes, "We've got a weird one…"

"That tends to come with the job description," Bobby interrupted.

"Yeah, well this one doesn't have anything that really jumps out at you. I mean; six guys bite the dust in two weeks and one's a cop."

"And the weird part?"

"No sulfur, no electrical problems and none of them have any alters in their basement. So, it's not a demon problem. They all have a heart, so no werewolves. And we've spent hours scouring the net and libraries for untimely deaths, murders, and suicides and came up with butkiss."

"So what do you have?"

"It looks like whatever it is, used a knife. The first guy was stabbed in the side and neck and the second guy was lucky enough to only get one to the jugular. After that they got worse and quicker; slit throats and a couple straight heart shots. As far as the guys themselves go; they spent most of their time at the gym, so they weren't the easiest targets. Actually, the gym is one link we do have. The first three were gym bunnies; but after that they were all over the place. All the murders took place in a one block area, so that's where we've been focusing but it isn't taking us very far. Sam's out walking the area again to see if he can use his puppy eyes of doom to extract any new info," he rolled his eyes.

"How you two doing anyway?"

Dean knew he was really asking just about him, "We're fine, Bobby. There was a guy, Emmett Hale, who was mugged on the same block a few weeks before the killings started. He was in a comma for awhile; but he died just before the whole thing started."

"Well it sounds pretty obvious then…" He paused for a second, "You haven't salt and burned him yet, have you?" his tone was harsh.

"No, not yet. Once Sam gets back that's the first thing we plan on doing. I just wanted your take on this whole thing…"

"My take, is light him up."

"We're on it, Bobby," he snapped.

"Good," Bobby snapped back and hung up.

Dean snapped his phone shut with a growl and threw it on the bed. Sam walked through the door, "It's about time," Dean snapped and grabbed his jacket. "Let's go."

Sam watched him walk out the door, "Yeah, my walk was nice, thanks. I found out something new, by the way," he said to himself before following him out.

"So whatever this thing is, it had to have an exit?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I mean once I got up the ladder and onto the roof; it was obvious that someone had been up there. Not only that; but there was a burnt pile of clothes up there too. They were just setting in the corner."

"So you're telling me someone started a fire on the roof and no one noticed?"

Sam shrugged, "Misdirection. People were focused on the commotion around the scene."

Dean shook his head, "Hours passed before anyone found Morris. The thing would've been long gone by then."

Sam sighed, "Yeah, you'd think…"

Dean gave him a weird look before turning back to face the road in front of him. "So this isn't Hale then?"

"Seeing as how ghosts can just up and disappear, clothes and all… I'm thinking not."

"So, what the frick?" he growled. They were quiet for awhile and Dean continued to drive. Finally he pulled over, "I guess going to the cemetery would be a waste of time…"

Sam gave him a look, "Yeah, unless we're looking for a zombie; then it is a waste of time." Dean lifted his brows and tipped his head at the possibility. "Dude, we are not looking for a zombie," Sam snapped.

"Are you sure? Remember that guy who was so desperate to get laid that he brought that hot friend of his back from the dead? Maybe Rebecca thought she got jipped and wanted more time with her dearly departed."

He was making some good points and so Sam thought about it; but realized some missed points. "If this were Emmett Hale, then why would he burn his clothes? No one would suspect him of killing six guys _after_ he died. There wouldn't be any reason to try and cover something like that up."

Dean sighed, "So there is a reason I put up with you."

Sam could feel the tension easing so he smiled back, "If you didn't you would have, let's see…salt and burned a corpse for no reason and went after an innocent woman."

Dean smirked, "Details, Sammy, details."

Sam laughed, "Yeah, nothing important or anything."

Dean shrugged and turned the Impala around. "So where to now Mr. Logic?"

"We should probably go back to the other scenes and find out how the thing escaped there."

"Right. And then you can leave the cops a little roof-top tip. I'm sure they're dying for some kind of break; after all, it is one of their own. They can run their little tests, we'll don the suits again, and soon we'll all be right back in the loop."

Sam laughed, "There's no 'I' in team."

"I prefer to see it as, equitable allocation of responsibility."

Sam gave him a slightly shocked look, "Impressive…"

Dean smirked and Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Everything that could be planned out was set. A moving van had been rented for two days, under Aidan Sawyer; of course. Nadia had changed the plates with another van in the yard and inconspicuously scattered papers over the dashboard to cover the VIN number. A quick stop at Menards filled a duffle bag with duct tape, rope, a black bandana, and lots of sound proofing foam; just in cause. Luckily, it seemed that the owner of the van was used to the neighborhood and didn't care much about what happened to his truck once money was in hand. The bike was already parked in the back and ready to be removed.

Everything was planned for first thing the next night. She parked the van in the lot of a hotel down the street and tried to do the impossible and get some sleep before sunset. When she finally gave up, she sat quietly in the back and went over everything repeatedly in her head. Aidan didn't need to say anything, Nadia could feel every tinge of excitement radiate off her and she tried to ignore it. "Would you settle down? I can't think..." she snapped at the empty air in the back of the van.

"Well, excuse me," Aidan snapped back. "This must be what they all feel like when their about to get out."

"Sure know how to make a girl feel special," Nadia muttered.

Before Aidan could respond, the alarm on Nadia's phone started to ring. "It's time!" Aidan chimed in.

Nadia rolled her eyes and mumbled about her having to get a new phone after Aidan had caused her to smash her's against the wall while she opened the back door. After a quick glance around, she was satisfied that no one was watching and she pulled out the ramp and rolled the bike out of the van. After it was parked a few spots from the van, she closed the door and climbed into the driver's seat. After a couple of days of watching the shift changes at the prison, Nadia and Aidan had decided on their target: David Sinclair who worked the 9:00 p.m. shift. He was always on time, small in stature, and light in weight; in other words, easy to move.

It was 8:55 when Nadia parked the van in the lot and like clock work, David pulled in a minute later. She parked the van out of camera shot and turned off the ignition. Before going any further, she quickly made herself look like the first person she thought of. A billboard caught her eye, so she became a red head with bright blue eyes from a Dairy Queen ad. She jumped out and walked around to open the hood. From the corner of her eye, she watched him gather his things and lock his doors. _Action_, she thought to herself. She sighed as loud as she could, placed her hands on her hips, and stared at the engine. He was too preoccupied with his own belongings to even notice her standing there; so she tried to call more attention to herself. She sighed again, ran her hands thought her hair, wiggled parts of the engine that she could see, smacked a few of them, threw up her hands, and gave an angry growl. If that didn't work she knew she would have to reinforce every stereotype out there and start crying; that was something she desperately didn't want to do. Thankfully, he was making his way over to her with an annoyingly heroic look on his face.

"Car trouble?"

_"Wow, he's bloody brilliant,"_ Aidan groaned.

"Yeah," Nadia frustratedly sighed, "I don't know much about cars... If it isn't something obvious; like something unhooked or melted, then it's all Greek to me."

He laughed, "I might be able to help..." He sat his things on the ground by the left front tire and looked over the engine. "I can't see much....I have a flashlight in my glove box, I'll be right back."

Before he took two steps, Nadia replied, "I have one in the back, actually. Let me get it..." She walked around to the back of the van, but tripped and twisted her ankle as she went to turn the back corner, "Ouch!"

David jogged around the van, "Are you alright?"

_"Smooth move ex-lax,"_ Aidan sneered.

"Ouch...yeah, I think so..." she started to get up but her hand slipped off the bumper and she fell back to the ground."That was graceful..."

"Oh. Here, let me help you..." he squatted down and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Thanks...and sorry about this..." she said.

"Sorry? About what?" he questioningly smiled.

"This," she laid her palm on his forehead and he went limp and fell to the ground. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she mumbled to herself as she jumped up and ran into the back of the van. A wheelchair she had bought at a Goodwill leaned against the side of the van. She snapped it open and pushed it down the ramp to the parking lot; once she locked the brake, she grabbed him under the arms and lifted his torso into the chair. Once he was completely in it; she pushed him back into the van, tied him to the chair, duct taped his mouth, and tied the bandana over his eyes. She locked the brake again and then screwed down the steel brackets she had bolted to the floor of the van. She had faith that she could keep him knocked out while she was inside but she had to be ready; there was no telling what could happen once she was inside.

She paused in the back of the van for a second and concentrated on David Sinclair's appearance; once she felt the familiar pulling in her abdomen, she jumped out and closed and locked the doors. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and slipped it under the wiper blade. It read: A tow truck is on its way. _Hopefully that will keep them from getting too curious._ She picked David's things up from the ground, took a deep breath, and walked to the front gate.

"Hey, Dave. Ever heard of a backpack?" The guard at the entrance asked.

Nadia smiled, "Feels too much like a purse."

The man had an intimidating laugh, and it matched his stature. He hardly seemed to fit in the little room behind the glass; he was nearly 275lbs, extremely well built, with military hair cut and a hard expression which melted away when he laughed. "Alright, I'll buy it..." he glanced at his watch, "well mark this in the record books; you're late!"

Nadia shrugged, "I dropped my stuff and some of it rolled under a car..."

He laughed and shook his head, "See ya later."

Nadia nodded, "See ya." She walked towards the door and bumped into it when it didn't open.

"You need your card..." the man said, "like always."

She sighed, "Right... Uh, you think maybe this once..."

He laughed and shook his head, "This once."

A loud buzz sounded and the door opened, the air inside was cold and smelled like a dirty hospital. She glanced over the sign and followed the arrow to the guards' locker room. Once inside, she dropped all of Sinclair's things on a bench and found a map of the prison framed just outside the locker room. She was looking it over when she was startled by the face reflected back at her. She spun around but there was no one there. "_It's you, stupid,"_ Aidan pointed out. Nadia sighed, "Right. I am never going to get used to this." She turned back to the map, _You're being awfully quiet. I figured you'd be bugging me as soon as stepped through the door._

_"Would it make a difference?" _Aidan asked.

_No, _Nadia responded.

_"I am keeping myself busy in here until you realize you can't go any further."_

_That sounds dirty, _Nadia chuckled.

_"Oh yes, I'm the child..."_

Nadia ignored her and found death row on the map and then their location; when she heard someone coming up behind her. "Five years, Sinclair. If you don't know your way around by now, I'm not holding out much hope for ya."

Nadia turned around and was taken aback by the man looking back at her. _"He's cute..."_ Aidan said. Nadia smiled and tried to ignore what she was feeling too, "Ha, ha," she casually glanced at his name tag, "Chance." She had to look away, his face made her uncomfortable for reasons Nadia didn't like; she was attracted to him. He had a strong jaw line, incredible blue eyes, messy dark brown hair, a sharp nose, and full lips. In some ways she was reminded of Dean; which only made it worse. _"Oh, come on. Dean would totally understand..."_ Nadia felt like she had been punched in the gut, when Aidan said those words.

"You alright, man? You don't look so good," he reached out to catch Sinclair.

She stepped back, "I'm fine..." She clamed herself and turned back to the map so that she wouldn't have to look at him. "I was just trying to figure out the most efficient ways around here."

There was a long pause before he answered, "O...kay." He laughed, "Sometimes I think there is really something wrong with you." Nadia didn't respond, "Where you trying to get to so fast, anyway?"

"You know the cafeteria, the different cell blocks, the warden's office, death row, the nearest bathrooms... You know, that sort of thing."

"In a real hurry to get to death row, are we?"

Aidan was flashing pictures of the very inappropriate things she would do to Officer Chance if she were given the opportunity and Nadia was having a hard time ignoring them. "Time is money."

"That it is." He reached toward the map, "It's a pretty straight shot from here," he traced a path to death row, "I mean you have the checkpoints here and here with guards; but other than that...it's a clear shot. So it, uh...saves money I guess," Nadia turned towards him without thinking and was a little stunned by his smile.

_"You know you want to... He is cuter than Dean. Admit it."_

_I will not. Because he isn't. He's just different...it's his eyes._

"Get a little lost in your head sometimes, don't ya?" he smirked.

She laughed, "Yeah, you could say that."

_"And those lips... Just plant one on him, you know you want to."_

_No! Besides I don't think he would take being kissed by David Sinclair to well._

_"You never know... I mean he is really hot; so knowing the way things usually go...he probably swings that way."_

Nadia ignored her, "Well, I better get to work; I'm already behind."

He stepped out of the way, "See ya around." Nadia nodded and walked passed him, "Hey," she turned around to hear what he had to say, "being in your head too much here can be kind of dangerous."

"Thanks," she smirked and returned to walking down the hall.

Nadia didn't know what to expect as she walked toward the west wing of the prison; also known as death row. Movies and TV had her heart racing as it anticipated riots and shives and she tried to calm herself. _Movies, movies are fake. They exaggerate the dramatic. How noisy could a place full of people who have nothing to do but sitting and waiting be? Seriously. You're going to walk in there and there maybe a few negative comments about you as you walk by, but they are talking about Sinclair. Sinclair, not you. You are not Sinclair. You are not Aidan._

_"Ouch, that hurt."_

Nadia rolled her eyes and was taken aback as she rounded the corner and came face to face with a bored looking guard. He was sitting on a plastic chair and leaning back on the bars behind him. She scanned the bars quickly and realized this was one of the checkpoints Chance had been talking about. The man was lost somewhere far away as he stared at the wall across from him, oblivious to Sinclair standing next to him. Nadia waited but it was obvious that he wasn't going to come out of his reverie on his own anytime soon, "A little bored are we?"

The sudden break in the silence around him caused him to jump and reach toward his belt until he recognized the face looking back at him. "Jeez, Sinclair. What the fuck? You can't go sneaking up on people in a prison; you're going to get yourself killed."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you..." Nadia started to respond.

"You didn't scare me," he quickly shot back.

Nadia fought to keep from rolling her eyes, _tough guy, _"Fine, I didn't mean to surprise you then. I wasn't trying to sneak; you were just off somewhere...totally not here. Can I get through?"

The man, whose name tag read, Kipper, stood up and reached out his hand, "That depends, you have your card?"

"Of course," Nadia lied as she pulled her debit card out of her pocket and handed it to him. She concentrated on the cards sudden change of appearance in his eyes from a debit card to a San Quentin i.d. card while she glanced around her. There was a camera behind her pointing down the hall towards the second and last checkpoint and into death row. Another was mounted ahead and to the right so that it captured every face that passed through Kipper's gate.

"Alright," he handed the card back to her and turned his key in the slot until he could pull the heavy door open.

She thanked him and walked toward the final gate. Before she even got there, the guard stood up aggressively and stared at her with a menacing look, "Well, if isn't St. Sinclair. Surprised you could pry your lips off Wong's ass long enough to make it all the way down here."

_Perfect. _"Look I just need to get through, alright?" Nadia was starting to grow weary of this whole ordeal.

_"Already? It's just about to get good,"_ Aidan replied.

"Wong send you down here for one of your stupid inspections?" he sneered.

Nadia sighed, "I don't even know what you're talking about. Here's my card," she reached out Sinclair's hand and glanced at his name tag, "James. Just let me by."

He glanced down at her hand, "You know, I don't think I feel like it. You can go and whine about it to Wong; see if I give a rat's ass."

Nadia was starting to lose her temper; every minute she stood here was another minute she had to keep the real Sinclair asleep and the higher the risk of the entire mission grew. _"Why do you insist on doing this like a normal human? You could make him let you through in a heartbeat; but you insist on wasting time..."_

_Shut up, Aidan. _Nadia could feel Aidan's furious disapproval at that demand as she tried to push her way to the surface. _Not yet._

_"Bite me. If you can't take care of this one little problem, I'll do it myself..." _Aidan pushed harder and harder until Nadia gave up and let her past. Aidan smirked and stepped closer to James, "You know what? I think you just like saying his name."

James was taken aback for a second; but he stood his ground, "Is that right?"

"Yeah," she paused, "I think it makes you feel better about how impotent you are."

James clenched his jaw and his face turned a bright, angry shade of red as he stepped towards Sinclair, "I will gut you where you stand," he spat.

"Boy, you really are desperate to get all up close and _personal_ with all your friends in there aren't you? Do they make you feel all warm and good about yourself? No need to worry about your little impotency problem if you're on the right end, huh?" Aidan recognized his slight shift in weight as he prepared to punch her in the face; but she was a step ahead. _It takes twice as much power to swing and miss than it does to actually hit someone, _Nadia internally rolled her eyes at the unnecessary and inappropriate fact that she had a compulsion to share at a time like this. She was right though; in his effort to hit Sinclair, he threw himself off balance and started to fall forward. As he stumbled forward and tried to regain his balance, Aidan slammed her elbow into his face. Nadia winced at the sickening sound his nose made as it crushed under the force of the hit. He fell to his knees spouting obscenities and threats; but Aidan cut him off with a quick knee to the face. His large body slumped back like a ragdoll propped against a wall. Aidan watched to make sure he was out and then looked straight at the camera. She raised her hand and flicked it as thought she were waving some annoying person away and the camera twisted, snapped off its bracket, and crashed to the floor.

_"Holy crap,"_ Nadia mumbled.

"Thank you," Aidan smiled.

_"I'm sure you just attracted a lot of unneeded attention to us. Guards beating on guards, malfunctioning cameras...oh yes, this is going perfectly,"_ her words dripped with sarcasm.

"I can't deal with half my brain freaking out right now. So you need to shut it and let me do what I do best." Aidan shoved Nadia's card back in her pocket and grabbed the key from James' belt. As she slid the gate open, she searched for cameras down the cell block. The sound of the fight and opening gate had grabbed the attention of most of the inmates on the block. Mirrors flashed into the hall as they tried to see what had happened. Aidan ignored them and grabbed James by the ankle and dragged him through the gate and closed it behind him. "Dude, you need to go on a diet," Aidan mumbled to an unconscious James.

Part of Nadia wanted to shut herself away in the back corner of her mind as Aidan worked; but the majority was entranced with a morbid curiosity that kept her wide-eyed. Aidan took out the two cameras down the block the same way she had the others and listened hard for approaching guards, but she couldn't hear anything over the loud curiosity of the inmates ahead of her. _Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way,_ she thought to herself. Before Nadia could ask what that meant, Aidan concentrated on projecting a complete blackout to the hallway behind her.

_"What are you doing?"_ Nadia asked.

_Anyone who comes down here will collapse and blackout before they even now what hit them. I've kept a few tricks up my sleeve..._

_"I should say so,"_ Nadia was flabbergasted at Aidan's abilities.

_You could do it too, you know. All you have to do is give in and accept it._

_"I don't really think this the time for a conversion of my beliefs."_

Aidan shrugged, _fine. _She walked down the row but stopped about halfway and turned in a circle to look at the curious and harassing faces around her. A young, scrawny man to her right caught her eye. He wasn't standing at the bars like everyone else; instead he was standing in the middle of his cell, staring back at her. She couldn't tell if he was afraid, curious, or just stupid. She watched him for awhile until Nadia interrupted with a shocking realization, _"There aren't enough... There aren't 675 inmates here..."_

_What?_

_"This isn't right. There are supposed to be 675 inmates on death row; they couldn't possibly all fit here." _Nadia was starting to panic the more the realization sunk in.

Aidan looked at the ground in shock and tried to make everything make sense; then she thought of something. She looked at the first inmate she saw and asked him, "Is this death row?"

He gave her an odd look, "You're the guard. Aren't you supposed to know these things?" He laughed and Aidan let her appearance drop. He jumped back in shock and Aidan heard the first guards running towards her and drop to the floor. She drilled her eyes into his and made him talk, "This is one. There are two more."

"What?" Aidan snapped.

"There is the North-Segregation where all the white collar _good_ death row guys are. This one; the East block. I guess we're the medium violent ones, and then there's the Adjustment Center; the worst of the worst," he spat out the words in a rush.

"Where are they?"

"Well, the North Segregation is to the north..." he paused and winced as Aidan grew angrier at his attempt at humor, "go back to the gate and turn right. That's North Segregation. The Adjustment Center is the opposite way, to the South; at least until the new facility opens in 2011."

_You could have done a bit more research I guess,_ Aidan angrily snapped at Nadia.

_"You were there too you know. Now what? This was supposed to a quick in and out operation. Now our time just tripled!"_

_Relax, _Aidan frantically thought for a few seconds, _I can still do this. I just won't be able to enjoy it as much as I'd thought; I'll have to rush._

The other inmates were starting to get over the shock and confusion of what they had just seen and heard take place and they were getting noisy and perverse. Aidan quickly thought of what she could do to kill them all quickly so that she could move on to the next cell block. As she thought over the different scenarios she had come up with in the last few days, the nearest faucets blew off the sinks and water started to spray every where. "That will take too long," as she said the words, the water suddenly stopped. She bit her lip out of stress and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Hey chica, how about you come over here; I'll make you forget all about whatever's bothering you," an inmate to her left purred through the bars.

Aidan snapped her head in his direction and she walked over to him, "Is that right?" She pushed away the panic and smiled.

"Absolutamente," he smiled back.

"Pipes burst for no reason in a couple of cells and all you can think about is how horny you are?"

"It's been a long time," he explained with a smile.

She gave him a sweet smile, "Oh don't worry, you won't have to wait much longer."

His smile grew, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she raised her hand and ran the back of her finger along his jaw. Then she pulled it away and flicked it just as she had with the cameras and his head snapped around; breaking his neck and killing him instantly.

_"We don't have time for this,"_ Nadia pointed out as more guards dropped behind her.

"I know," Aidan said under her breath. Now the inmates were shifting into a flight or fight response; which was quickly dampened by the bars around them. She turned to the cell across from the man she had just killed and ripped the bed from the bolts on the floor and slammed it into him. She walked down the block, repeating the move over and over again until the only inmate still alive was the scrawny man from before. She was taken aback when not a cell in his body looked fearful.

"Christo," he tightly said without taking his eyes off her.

Shock jolted through her body, "You're a hunter."

_"What?" _Nadia said in surprise.

He glanced around him, "Use demonic possession as your defense for why you killed 10 people and you tend to look a little crazy."

_"What?" _Nadia repeated in shock.

_Get a hold of yourself,_ Aidan snapped at her.

"So you're not a demon. What are you?" he asked.

"I'm a whole new level of freak," she smirked. "Love to stay and chat but...places to go, people to kill."

_"No! You can't kill him!"_ Nadia fought to regain control of her body; but Aidan was holding firmly on.

"I have to," Aidan snapped. "I can't just let him go." The man watched her with confusion.

_"You have to. We can't kill a hunter!"_

"Exactly! He's a hunter. Hunter's talk; if I let him go word spreads. We will be on _every_ hunters hit list," she let the words sink in.

Nadia felt like she had been punched in the gut, _Dean_.

"Yes. Now what's it going to be?"

"What the hell are you?" he asked again.

Aidan and Nadia ignored him. She knew it was selfish; but Nadia new that if Dean found out what she had let Aidan do, she would never see him again, _"Do it."_

Aidan waited for Nadia to decide and could feel tears come to her eyes as Nadia said the words. _It'll be quick,_ she told Nadia. Without a sign of what was coming, her hand flashed up and his head snapped to the side before he could even process what was happening.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Who is this again?" Dean asked.

"T.J. Donovan; stab wound to the jugular." Sam looked around him, "There are three alleys within running distance; he could have hid out in anyone of them. Probably used another fire escape."

Dean was distracted by something across the road, "What day was this?"

"Uh," Sam glanced at the notepad in his hand, "Tuesday around 8:00. Why?"

Dean nodded to the building he had been staring at, "Bet that class meets every Tuesday at the same time..." He could see the look of confusion on Sam's face, "Two of those alleys you mentioned a minute ago flank each side of that very open building. Lots of windows means lots of opportunity to be seen."

"So he probably chose the one over by the pet store; away from all the hubbub," Sam responded.

"Hubbub?" Dean gave Sam an odd look and shook his head before crossing the street to the alley. A quick game of rock, paper, scissors, and a climb up another fire escape; and Dean verified their suspicion. "Another pile of what used to be clothes. Extra large male; he's a big guy."

Robert Carlisle, the third victim was killed in a parking lot across from the gym at about 10:00 on a Friday night. "Knife to the chest," Sam said. "I guess it's pretty obvious that this time, he escape in a car. Big open lot like this one, it's not easy not to be seen."

"Isn't this where Emmett Hale was killed?" Dean asked.

"He was closer to the mouth of the alley. Jasper Morris, on the other hand was killed exactly where Hale was found," Sam responded. "Michael Patterson, 35, died on Saturday of a slit throat; first time this thing went all out. There's no way of coming back after a cut to the throat that deep."

"Escalation." Dean stared down the alley in thought, "Is it just me or is this seeming more and more like a problem for the cops?"

"Whatever it is, it's following a classic criminal pattern."

They were quiet for awhile until Dean headed for the mouth of the alley, "Who's next?"

"Brad Arnold; died Wednesday in his apartment. This one seems different; it didn't take happen in public place, he was stabbed multiple times, and there weren't any signs of forced entry," Sam told his brother as they climbed the stairs to the third floor. "3B."

Dean picked the lock of apartment 3B and glanced down the hall before entering, "Maybe this one isn't even related. Spurned lover, jealous coworker, plain old robbery maybe."

"Definitely not a robbery. He still had money in his wallet and there aren't any signs of rummaging or searching for anything."

"Multiple stabbing?"

Sam nodded, "I think 17 times counts as multiple."

"Psht, my money's on the lover," Dean responded. They looked some more around the apartment; but they had no idea what they were looking for. They both felt out of their element. "There is something off about this case. I can feel it," Dean said.

Dean was plotting each crime scene on a map in an effort to make some sense out of the mess of facts they had. Sam was looking in the files for some sort of pattern; neither of them were having any luck. Dean was growing increasingly frustrated every time he looked at the map, "I hate this case!" Sam ignored him, "There aren't any coins, amulets, symbols, residues, or giant pentagrams formed by the locations on a map! We're missing something. We have to be."

"Well, there inlays the problem. We have nothing until we find what we're missing, and we have no idea what that is," Sam didn't look up from the files as he talked.

"We have to try something new. This case is different somehow...maybe we need to look at it differently."

"Like?"

Dean ran his hand over his head, "I don't know... What ever this thing is, it hasn't been caught; so it must be smart..."

Sam nodded, "Have some sort of planning behind it, so... There has to be some connection..." They thought for awhile and then Sam stood up, "I have an idea." He grabbed a stack of blank and scrapped papers and started to write on them. "What things define a person?" Six sheets of paper with the six victims names on them, and then he stuck them to the wall in order from left to right. "Their name." He grabbed more papers, "Where they live," he wrote down their addresses and stuck them to the wall. "Their job. Weston was a teacher, Donovan a contractor, Carlisle owned a sporting goods store, Patterson was an EMT, so was Arnold, and Morris was a cop." He stuck them to the wall, "Their hobbies... Fishing, hiking, hunting, baseball, cars, and hunting."

"Two EMTs and two who liked hunting... Maybe this thing goes after people who save lives and those who take lives?" Dean stretched.

"This is Colorado, 90 percent of the state hunts. What kind of people are we left with?" Dean stared at the wall annoyed so Sam answered his own question, "A teacher, a builder, a...supplier, two life savers, and a protector."

"Things in a high school janitor's closet!"

Sam rolled his eyes, "The EMTs and the cop are the only things that could even go into the same category."

"The hospital is on the south west corner of the block kitty-corner to the gym; I'm sure the EMTs and Morris all frequented that place." Dean thought for a second, "A teacher probably goes to the doctors a lot with all the sick kids and I'm sure the contractor has had a few accidents on the job."

"It's a place to look," Sam conceded.

"For what though?" He gave a frustrated growl, "I'm stretching, making connections where there aren't any..."

"Maybe; but right now it's all we have...might have. I say we pay the hospital a visit."

"Cops or doctors?"

"Cops." Sam chuckled, "People work years making such a decision and we decide in a second."

"It's good to be us."

"Ha! Yeah, right."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Aidan opened the gate again and leapt over Kipper and the other guards as she ran to the cell block known as North-Segregation. As she ran she had to keep the guards asleep behind her and project the blackout ahead of her Nadia was surprised that more guards hadn't come to see what was going on but Aidan had a probable explanation, "They're probably assembling some sort of task force to come down here. Power in numbers sort of thing." She returned to Sinclair's appearance and grabbed the keys off the guard at the door to north-segregation and didn't bother closing it behind her. She glanced around and took out the cameras one by one before assessing this new situation. The inmate had been right in his assessment of this block being the white collar death row inmates were held; it was obvious that rules here were much more slack than they had been at the last cell block. The atmosphere was quieter and the entire air of the place was lighter; as if as long as the other two blocks existed, they had nothing to worry about. Sinclair received a few curious looks as he walked down the block but most inmates quickly returned to their books and checkers games. _Well, this isn't going to be any fun. It's like walking into a Florida retirement home. _

"You new, boss?" a man who appeared to be in his sixties asked from his cell.

Aidan and Nadia had been expecting the same wild and harassing attitude that they had received in minute ago, "You could say that."

"Well, you got a good gig. We're pretty easy going here," he smirked.

She glanced around, "Yeah...I can see that."

He gave her an odd look, "You sound disappointed..."

She gave him an irritated look in return, "Forgive me; but this doesn't exactly go with the whole spirit of what I have to do." He just continued to look at her even more confused and she continued, "I chose this place because I figured it was full of a bunch of bloodthirsty Neanderthals. Now I get here and find out that my work is tripled because some genius split all of you into three categories in three different locations. Not only that; but all of you look more like you belong in some third-rate Florida retirement home--made prison. So forgive me if I'm not ecstatic about how the whole thing worked out."

"I don't understand," he said.

She sighed, "That's obvious. Now how am I going to get rid of all of you?"

He laughed uneasily, "Get rid of? Boss you make it sound like we're all going to the chamber..."

Aidan continued to look around her at the faces that were now being brought out by curiosity. Her eyes narrowed in thought, "It's more like a hospital bed..." she glanced at him and then away again, "but don't worry, you aren't going anywhere."

"That's a relief, boss."

She threw her head back and sighed, "Oh, I wish you would stop calling me that," she was about to drop the facade of Sinclair; but something made her keep it up. He was about to respond, but Aidan glared at him and he stepped back and kept quiet. She sighed, "What to do, what to do, what to do..."

_"This is going on way too long,"_ Nadia said. Her voice strained in alarm.

"I know," Aidan responded to herself. "Got any brilliant ideas?"

_"What? This is why I let you out! This is your area of expertise."_

_This is my first time, remember? I may be more willing to do it; but that doesn't mean I can come through with something brilliant in the clutch..._

Nadia gave a figurative huff. "_Then what good are you?"_ They could go back and forth like this for hours; but she knew they had to move on, and fast. She surprised herself when she started thinking of possible answers to Aidan's, 'Got any brilliant ideas?' question; did she have any?

_This whole prison thing seriously limits the possibilities._

_"What a time to have performance anxiety..." _Nadia fumed. "_Fire."_

_The place is made of concrete. I hate to break it to you but that doesn't burn._

_"No; but...but people do..."_ The fact that she had even seriously thought about that option made Nadia sick.

Aidan raised one brow, _Huh, I never would have thought St. Nadia would come up with something so barbaric._ Nadia ignored her and tucked herself back into that little closed off corner of her mind where she was near entirely oblivious to what Aidan was doing. As she walked back down the cell block to towards the exit, she took a deep breath and gathered all of her energy. She had never attempted the whole fire thing herself, so she wasn't entirely sure she could do it. She was, however, arrogant enough to think that because Nadia could, she must be able to also. She gathered all her energy and thrust her hands out towards both cells beside her; but nothing happened. She shook the failure off and tried again; but didn't get so much as a wisp of smoke. Anger was building as she started to realize she was growing jealous at the fact that she was unable to do something that came so naturally to someone like Nadia.

The anger and envy were creeping through Nadia's carefully made wall and interest and concern were stirring her awake. The taste of what Aidan was about to say was repugnant but she forced herself to speak, "A little help here."

Nadia reluctantly came out of hiding, "_What is it?"_

Aidan tried to brush the shortcoming off as nothing more than a nuisance, _Apparently I can't do your little 'I have made fire,' _instead of thinking the phrase, a clip of Tom Hanks in _Castaway_ popped in front of Nadia's face _, trick._

Nadia smirked and thought back to Aidan's earlier mocking words about that particular ability, "Anyone with a bic can do that..." "_Not so much to say now, huh?"_

_Oh shut it,_ Aidan snapped back. _You need to do this._

The humor Nadia had felt suddenly vanished, "_No. No, I can't!"_

_I can't do it, so we either come up with some other idea or you get your butt out here and do this. I'm not all that excited about the whole thing either._

_"I mean it, I can't do this."_

_Maybe there is some way to...transfer abilities?_

_"Maybe,"_ Nadia was fiercely hopeful that this might be the case. "_How?"_

_I don't know, _Aidan looked down at Sinclair's watch, _but we've been in here for 20 minutes. That's way too long._

Nadia sighed, _I" know..." _She tried to push that out of her mind and focus souly on pushing her fire ability out to her hands, "_Do you feel anything?"_

Aidan was confused, _No, should I?_

_"That would be nice." _She pushed harder, "_How about now?"_

_No._

_"Try throwing fire again," _Nadia suggested.

Aidan tried to feel some sort of strength coming to the surface as she always did when she was using an ability; but she felt nothing. She thrusted her arms out to her sides again and a ball of fire slammed into the bars of the cells. She stared in amazement as the fire started to burn away at the mattresses in both cells; but soon the screaming pulled her out of her daze and back to reality. The cries for help were bothering her more than she'd have liked so she quickly moved on from cell to cell until the entire prison was filled with ear-piercing cries.

_"Make them stop!" _Nadia cried.

Tears were falling from Aidan's eyes instead and she spun back around to face the flames and suddenly it was silent. For awhile she wasn't sure if she had succeeded in quieting them herself; because she suddenly felt as if she were underwater. As if she were in a movie, she imagined the director selecting a shot of her face that quickly pulled away from her showing all the damage she had done. She even knew the perfect music for the scene; Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor K. 626: 3. She shook those thoughts away and stared at the ground in shock; not at what she'd done but at how much it truly bothered her. Suddenly she realized the tears were no longer just Nadia's, they were her's too. "They don't feel a thing anymore," she said for Nadia's and her own benefit. She wiped away the tears and ran down the hall towards the final cell block, the Adjustment Center.

She could still hear the music in her head while she ran as fast as she could, trying to leave it in her wake. Her panic and desperation had already knocked the guard out when she was still back in the first cell block; but now it threw the gate open with a thunderous slam. There was no need for a slow dramatic entrance this time; the entire block knew she had arrived. She made no attempt at keeping Sinclair's appearance as she broke through the cell block's threshold; a marathon runner breaking through the finish line. The entire adjustment center was silent in shock and confusion as Aidan doubled over trying to catch her breath.

It wasn't long before the cat calls started. Aidan glanced at her watched, "Twenty five minutes," she said to herself as she glanced around.

Nadia flooded with panic, _"The cameras! You look like you...I mean me...I mean. Ugh! You know what I mean."_

_Relax, _Aidan thought, _when I took out the door I took them out too._

Nadia metaphorically sighed in relief, "_Good. This has to be fast; faster than any of the others..."_

_It's a shame too. These guys are the ones I would like to take my time with... Put each one of them through the same they put their victims through._

_"Sounds like a vigilante to me."_

_Vigilantes stop the crime from happening. Think of me more like a...punisher._

_"Whatever you want to call yourself, you're still softening."_

_Bite your tongue!_ Aidan was determined to prove her wrong so she walked straight to the first cell she saw. The occupant was cautious as she approached, so Aidan smiled in an effort to put him at ease. "Hello," she purred.

In a second, his libido wiped away his fears and he came forward, "Hi. I don't think you're supposed to be here...not that I'm complaining," he added.

She shrugged shyly, "I know." She stood inches from the cell bars, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," he smiled and his eyes glittered with intention as he slowly moved closer to her.

Aidan was conscious of his distractions as he tried to keep her from noticing the fact that he was inching closer; she stayed on edge, ready to jump out of reach if she had to. "What did you do to get yourself thrown in here?"

His eyes narrowed and after a few seconds he smirked, "Wrong place at the wrong time. Aren't we all?" Aidan detected further meaning in his words, a threat against her. She tipped her head and gave a knowing smirk before she used her abilities to extract the truth. "I killed 13 people," he responded in a detached, robotic voice. He blinked out of his trance, shaken by his own admission but quickly tried to recover, "Gutted them actually. I...used a hunting knife and cut them from here to here," he drew a line with his finger from the left side of his abdomen to the right, "watched their guts fall to ground like deer. It's not the quickest way to go; but that's sort of the point." A chill ran down her spine at his last remark and he smiled.

She moved closer, "Someone who does that must have a shive around somewhere," she drilled her eyes into his.

The blank, trance-like stare came back like before, "Yeah," he walked to the head of his head and squatted down. He stuck his index finger inside a small whole in the wall and pulled out a long pointed object, "The guards don't spend a whole lot of time searching all the nooks and crannies of a building that's falling apart."

She reached inside, "Can I see it?" He hesitated and looked from the weapon to her face where he was caught again in her gaze, and placed the piece of metal in her palm. "Thank you," she turned the shive over and over again in her hands before she glanced back up at him, "the abdomen you said, right?"

He nodded and every cell in his body was screaming questions at him; except those that counted, the ones that were completely immobilized by her. She sighed, "I really wish I had more time to really make you understand what they went through; but of course this has to be a rush job..." She quickly reached back through the cell bars and thrusted the homemade knife in his abdomen and pulled it as hard as she could across to the other side. As she watched his face react, the music came back; but this time was different. There was no longer the same feeling of shock and nausea, instead she felt liberated and truly just. These weren't the haunting words like before, these was more like K.626: 1; cautious, bold, and jubilant.

Now that Aidan felt released from that overwhelming unease with herself--at least for a moment--she walked down the cell block doing a repeat of North-Segregation. This time she relished in the screams of the worst of the worst before she slipped back into Sinclair's appearance and ran out of the prison; taking out all the cameras along the way before they could catch even a glimpse of her. Once outside, the alarm finally went off; apparently there was someone still conscious inside the prison walls. She quickly pretended like she was just another guard cautiously looking through the parking lot for whoever had caused the alarm to be sounded. Once she reached the van, she unlocked the back and quickly jumped inside. She closed the door behind her, grabbed a hoodie, Nadia's iPod, and threw her hair into a ponytail before she jumped back outside the van. She glanced around and changed into a bottle blonde in a sports bra and jogging shorts; but anyone who was within sight of the prison was too distracted with the alarm to notice her. She left the van doors open behind her and started jogging away while she pushed her headphones in her ears and turned the iPod up enough to drowned out the commotion around her. Once she was around the block, she released the real David Sinclair and focused on getting to her bike.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"I hate hospitals," Dean grumbled as he messed, yet again, with his long black tie. He saw Sam roll his eyes in response. "Don't you roll your eyes at me. For you this place is like a revolving door, in and out with a few stitches or maybe a cast... Me, I end up in a coma with tubes down my throat or getting the news that I am going to die soon."

Sam chuckled, "Alright, you have a point... It sucks to be you."

Dean gave his brother a quick, sarcastic smirk, "Cute."

Just then they reached the nurses' station and Dean reached for his badge, "Hi, I'm looking for..." His brows dipped and he filled his cheeks with air before noisily blowing it out.

Sam jumped in, "We need to speak to whoever is in charge of the ER."

The nurse was typing on the computer and glancing through files as she listened. When she finally looked up, she was completely disinterested but glanced at their badges and picked up the phone. Her voice was soon projected to every corner of the hospital, "Dr. Louke, you are needed at the nurses' station immediately." She hung up the phone, flashed them a very quick smile and turned back to the computer and files in front of her, "He should be here soon."

"Thank you," Sam replied and Dean snorted in contradiction to Sam's words.

They stood for awhile but as gurneys started to come in they quickly realized that they were in the way and after a not so subtle remark from the nurse, they sat in the waiting area. "Great," Dean mumbled, "I'm going to get the swine flu sitting here." Sam chuckled and shook his head and Dean gave him a brisk but subtle reminder of his seemed fate in hospitals, "Revolving door..."

Twenty minutes and three annoyed remarks to the nurse, Dr. Louke walked up to the counter. "Yes, Meagan?"

"Hate to be a patient here if that passes for immediately..." Dean said under his breath. The nurse did little more than nod in their direction as they came up behind him, "Dr. Louke?"

The doctor turned, "Yes."

They flashed their badges again, "I'm Agent Hadley, and this is my partner Agent Foreman. We have a few questions for you."

The doctor sighed and uneasily shifted his weight, "Look I did everything I could, if this is about a lawsuit or something..."

Sam reached towards him in a comforting austere and shook his head, "No doctor this isn't about a lawsuit. We are checking out the recent murders in town and found a few connections that led us here..." He let the implication hang in the air; like an interrogator allowing the suspect to fill the silence and incriminate himself.

The doctor turned his head as if to hear them better, "I don't understand... I mean, yes, we treated Mr. Hale; but..."

Dean interrupted him, "And a couple of the victims also worked as EMTs here."

He gave a quick shake of the head, "We don't employ EMTs here. They work independently; but yes they do frequent here quite a bit."

"Did you know Mr. Patterson or Mr. Arnold?" Sam asked.

"I have seen them, worked with them, yes. But I didn't really know them as any thing more than EMTs who bring in people that need my help," he shrugged.

They didn't really know what else to ask because they had no idea what to look for or even if the hospital had anything to do with anything that was happening. Sam asked the first thing that came to mind, "Could we get a list of the days they worked and if any patients were brought in?" It wasn't a question but unlike Dean, Sam preferred to try and keep a conversation civil and the converser willing to continue in the future.

He nodded while he thought, "I could probably have a nurse call the company--Parker's--and have then email us what you need... We should have the records of patients they have brought in. That may be a very long list though."

Dean raised an eye brow, he was used to people reluctantly giving them only what they asked for; it was surprising to have someone readily give them more than they had requested. The doctor seemed to read the expression on his face, "We are a pretty small hospital; so we are able to keep exceptional records and we know how valuable our relationship is with law enforcement."

"Thank you," Sam said, "we will probably only need the records for the past...two months, just to be safe."

Dr. Louke nodded and turned back to the nurses' station and started to say something but the nurse, Meagan, handed him a file. "The past two months for Arnold and Patterson. I am still waiting for the email from Parker's." Dean and Sam glanced at each other, impressed. Meagan noticed the exchange and smirked, "We may not be the most hospitable nurses; but we are very efficient."

Dean raised his hand in a slightly submissive gesture and Sam took the file from the doctor. "Thank you doctor," Sam smiled and shook his hand. He looked around Dr. Loukes while he shook Dean's hand, and smiled at Meagan, "We'll sit and wait for the rest then."

She chuckled, "Quick learner."

Sam and Dean had glanced through the records while they waited for the email; but nothing caught their attention. Once Meagan had given them the rest of what they needed, they returned to the hotel room.

Sam and Dean started with the records from Parker's. They had them laying side by side; Dean bent over Patterson's list and Sam over Arnold's. Dean was underlining the dates when they had worked together and Sam grabbed the files from the hospital. "You read off the dates and I'll look through these to see who they brought in," Sam suggested.

Dean nodded and read over the last few dates before sighing and stretching. "Alright...first is September 22nd." He waited while Sam found the names of patients they had brought into the hospital that day.

He wrote the names on more pieces of paper and stuck them to the wall, "Okay. Next..." Dean looked back down at his lists but couldn't find the next date. "Next," Sam repeated.

"Yeah I heard you the first time," Dean snapped. He looked over the list again and found the next day, "Shoulda used a blue pen or something..." Before he could tell Sam what the date was, something hit him in the chest and bounced down onto the table. He glared at Sam before looking to see what his brother had thrown at him; a yellow highlighter laid in the middle of the table. Grudgingly, Dean grabbed it; "Shut up..." he highlighted all the dates while Sam waited. "9/25, 9/30, 10/6, 10/9..."

"Whoa! Not so fast," Sam said.

Dean smirked, "Your fault. You shouldn't have made me so efficient."

Sam rolled his eyes, "The 25th and 30th, right?"

Dean nodded, "Of September." Sam wrote the names on another paper and stuck it to the wall like the others. The process continued over and over again until they finished the list.

Sam was staring at the calendar on his phone with a look of concentration, "They worked together every Tuesday and Friday one week and Wednesday the next week."

"Okay," Dean mumbled, not sure how they helped with anything. Dean listed off the last four of the ten dates, "October 20th, 23rd, 28th, and November 3rd."

Sam flipped through the pages again, "We may finally have something..."

Dean jumped up from where he was sprawled out on the bed, "Yeah?"

Sam shot him an odd look, "A little eager aren't we?" When Dean didn't respond, he continued, "Does October 20th ring any bells?"

Dean looked confused and then thoughtful, "Uh...kind of..." The date didn't actually ring anything; but he wasn't going to admit it.

"Emmett Hale?"

"Oh, yeah... That was the day he was attacked wasn't it?"

Sam nodded, "And guess who brought him into the ER?"

"Arnold and Patterson," Dean said.

"Yup. I mean we thought this probably had something to do with him; but..."

"But if he isn't a ghost or a zombie... Maybe some demon's wearing the poor bastard."

Sam let out a frustrated breath, "Maybe..."

"I guess we wait for nightfall and rack up another grave desecration."

Dean huffed and plopped back down on the bed while Sam headed straight to the shower; he hated smelling like burning flesh. After they had satisfied themselves with seeing Emmett still inside his casket, they decided it would once and for all narrow down the list of possibilities if they salt and burned the corpse. Dean had found it amusing to pick on Sam, saying the guy was more of a giant than he was. Secretly Sam had agreed; the guy was huge. Who the heck could have gotten the better of a guy like that? Or maybe it wasn't who; maybe the question was what.

Dean put pillows behind his back and leaned on them as he stared at the wall waiting for something to jump out at him. He rubbed his eyes and blew a mouthful of air through his lips and fought heavy lids as he stared, yet again, at what he called "The wall of confusion." This time he worked his way backward, up the wall. He eyes danced from victim to victim and something caught his interest as he faintly noticed the water being shut off in the bathroom.

Sam dried off quickly and pulled on a pair of boxers before opening the door, "I think we're missing something..." He continued to look at the floor in thought while rubbing the towel on his head, "I think Emmett may have been victim number one," he glanced up at his brother. Dean was sitting anxiously on the edge of the bed, his eyes tight as he stared at the wall. "Dean? What..." Dean raised his hand to tell Sam to be quiet and he walked to the wall and started pulling off papers. Sam was about to snap at him until Dean started putting the papers in a different order. He walked over and stood behind Dean, "What is it?"

"There's an order... Well sort of," he didn't look away as he stuck up the last two sheets of paper. Sam's eyes flashed from Dean to the wall and back in confusion. Dean stepped back to where Sam was, "Monday," he pointed to the first sheet all the way to the left, "Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. They weren't killed in order; but they were." He pointed at Jeffrey Weston's name, T.J. Donovan, Brad Arnold, Jasper Morris, Robert Carlisle, and Michael Patterson. "Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday... Everyday but Sunday. I think the next victim will be killed this Sunday; in five days..."

"What?" Sam asked even though he was pretty sure he knew what Dean was saying. He was starting to see it right there on the wall in front of him.

"One victim was killed on each day of the week; just not in order," Dean was a little shocked, awed, and gloatful at his deduction.

"Oh," was all Sam could say.

"Oh? I discover when the next victim is going to be killed and all you can say is, 'oh?' What were you saying about Emmett just a minute ago anyway?" he asked.

Sam shook his head in an effort to clear it, "Um, what if Emmett was the first victim of this thing?"

"Why?"

"Why?" Sam repeated back in surprise.

"Since the beginning we've thought this had something to do with Emmett Hale... If he was the first victim; why were all the others killed? Weston, Donovan, and Carlisle all went to the gym with Hale. Patterson and Arnold brought him to the hospital and Morris worked the scene. Think about it. I don't think the thing that killed all of them is the same thing that killed Hale."

When Dean said it like that it made sense, even to Sam. "Revenge," a light bulb clicked on in Sam's head.

"Revenge?" Dean asked.

Sam turned to face his brother, "This thing wants revenge for the death of Emmett Hale... And who ever is next on that list has five days to live."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Aidan was still in control of their body as she raced out of town and back towards Andrea's apartment. Nadia didn't try to push her way through. She wasn't ready for that yet; even Aidan knew that much. They were weaving through cars on the highway for a half hour when the silence was shattered around them. A police car sped up as he merged into traffic and saw them; but Aidan paid him no attention, instead she turned the throttle harder and widened the gap between them. The lights disappeared as the cars swallowed his chase attempt; a car (even one with falshign lights) in California traffic was no match for a motorcycle.

She had all but forgotten the encounter when a line of police cars spread out into an intimidating line and sped up behind her. The sudden circle of light that flashed onto the road surprised her and nearly caused her to fish-tail into the center barricade. _Perfect_ she thought to herself.

The atmosphere of Aidan's thought finally broke through Nadia's sickening haze, _"What is it?"_

Aidan glanced towards the sky, _we have company._

Nadia forced herself to take in their surroundings and Aidan flashed the memory of the first police car in front of her and she realized what was happening. _"Perfect."_

_Been there, done that. What now?_

_"How anything ever gets done with you at the helm, I have no idea... Do you think you can affect them all?"_

Aidan immediately understood her meaning, _I don't know. They are still pretty far away...not to mention the bird..._

_"Back in Motana I stopped that truck before we hit that intersection and it hit us. Just concentrate on making the cops change their mind or chase someone else."_

_Or stop and cause a gigantic pile-up?_ Aidan's words had an air of fierce temptation.

_"No one else dies tonight. Not because of us."_

_Fine. My heart wasn't really in it anyway; I can feel you too strongly._

_"What's that supposed to mean?"_

_I feel what you feel remember? I can feel all the guilt and disgust and overwhelming self-loathing that you're feeling. And it's all manifesting itself into the urge to throw up._

_"I wonder why that is..."_ Nadia thought.

_This is neither the time nor the place for this conversation. _

_"Right. Sorry."_

Aidan focused on the cars behind her but struggled to do so without completely taking her mind from the road ahead of her. _We're gonna die trying to do this,_ she fumed. She thought some more as she raced to the right and held her breath as she squeezed the bike between a car and the cement barricade along side of the highway. The police cars were gaining on her and she needed to think of something fast. _I can't do the cars and the helicopter all at once...at least not by myself._ She waited for Nadia to respond with a, "I'll help or something," but she heard nothing. For a split second she thought she was gone; but as she searched in their shared mind for her, Aidan stumbled over her presence and was shocked when she heard the thoughts going through Nadia's mind. _Hey! Knock it off! We did not just kill all those people back there to be thrown in prison for a traffic violation! _Naida's figuarative head snapped up as she realized what Aidan had heard but she didn't respond any further, so Aidan continued with the only thing she knew was garaunteed to get a reaction from her. _We get caught and there goes your deal. We go to hell and you never see Dean again._

Nadia flinched as if Aidan had slapped her and she threw all those thoughts from her mind. Now that her head was clear she focused on the problem at hand, _"Then take care of one thing at a time."_

In a couple of seconds Aidan and Nadia threw together a plan and searched for the thing that would allow them to exacute it. Finally an off ramp came into view and Aidan pulled the bike onto it at the last possible second. The cars that had been closest blew past the ramp and had no choice but to either continue to the next ramp or try to turn around. The three cars that had been further back barely made the turn and continued after her. Aidan and Nadia focused every bit of attention they could spare (while still keeping the bike upright) and threw their command up into the sky. They had no idea if it had worked until the light that had been trained on them from above moved away to the northeast and was soon shut off all together as the heilcopter continued towards Las Vegas. Aidan smiled, _Have fun boys..._

Nadia snapped Aidan's attention back to the road and they both refocused their efforts to the cars behind them. _I can almost hear their confused radio calls to our boys in the bird, _Aidan smiled again.

_"Concentrate,"_ Nadia snapped in frustration.

Aidan made some childish mocking noises before doing what she was told. With the combined efforts of them both, the police cars all started slow and eventually come to a safe stop behind them. In a matter of seconds they were out of sight and Aidan pulled the bike back onto the highway. Without the chopper to tell them where to go once the haze had worn off, the police cars would have no choice but to limp around the city with bruised egos in a fruitless effort to restart the chase.

Nadia couldn't help but be uplifted by the relief of their escape and, for the moment at least, the atmosphere in her head changed to one of jubulation and pride. That was until Aidan opened her big mouth, "Are we really going back to Andrea's? That doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do."

_"All our stuff is there,"_ she was surprised by how easily she suddenly thought of her stuff as "ours." _"Besides, I...."_

_You need her,_ Aidan sneered; but Nadia immediately picked up on how her sneer lacked its usual sincerity. Nadia didn't have to say anything for Aidan to know that what she'd said was exactly what Nadia was trying to say; so she resolved herself into pointing the bike back to San Diego.

After a long time of silence, Aidan thought, _I wonder if we've made the news yet... We must have, right? I mean over 600 inmates being killed in a prison by someone from the outside and no one has the slightest idea what or who did it? We must be every where._

_"_We_ had better not be anywhere," _Nadia replied.

Aidan rolled her eyes, _You know what I mean. What we did must be all over the news..._ As if to answer her question, Nadia's cell phone viberated in her pocket and Aidan fished it out. _Andrea. _

_"Guess that answers your question," _Nadia mumbled and Aidan smirked.

After ten unanswered calls, Aidan finally pulled the bike up in front of Andrea's apartment. Aidan turned it off and stretched her arms and back, "Are you ready to take over now or do I have to worry about you passing out?"

Nadia bit back a sharp remark she was about to make, _"I'm fine."_

"You're not gonna go jump off a bridge or something are you?" Aidan asked as she took off her helmet and shook out her hair.

_"I think that would be a little counter-intuative to what I am trying to do,"_ Nadia huffed.

Aidan sighed, "Alright... Nadia Bella, come on down..."

Taking your body back over from someone else is a strange experience to say the least. The only way Nadia could think to describe it was by comparing it to the feeling one would get when being thrusted from the background of play to the lead when you only knew half the words. Uncomfortable and nerve racking; which she knew was stupid, it was her role to begin with. Once the disorientation passed, she was able to remember how to make her body move again and she climbed off the bike. She walked around to the sidewalk and toward the front door when everything hit her again; only it was much, much stronger this time. Not only could she feel the guilt and self-loathing Aidan had mentioned, but she felt it all through her body as well. When she was locked away in that little corner of her mind she was protected from the violent rejection her physical body was having to what she had done; and now she had to face it head on. The crushing surprise of it made her knees give out and fell to all fours gasping for air. She tried to blink away the relentless tears that ran down her face so she could see where she was going but it was a waste of effort. Before being able to crawl even a step, the nausea become too much and leaned on one hand so she could pull her hair out of the way. Her entire body ached from the dry heaves that contracted throughout her body and she rested her forehead on the cool cement sidewalk waiting for them to pass. After several successful minutes, she managed to pull herself weakly to her feet and stumble to the door.

She had barely knocked when Andrea jerked the door open and the color drained from her face. Nadia was ghostly pale, drenched in sweat, and barely holding herself upright when she looked up at Andrea. Andrea was unable to move as she took in her best friend's appearance. Her eyes were red from the tears that seemed to pour from them and her hair was a tangled mess that stuck to the sweat on her face. Nadia started to slump back to the ground, but Andrea caught her and helped her inside; where she collapsed on the couch. Even Aidan was silent as Nadia let go and sank into the welcome darkness around her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Dean's eyes narrowed, "Rebecca Hale."

"She's the first person I think of; but how could she have gotten the jump on them? I mean, Weston and Donovan were the only ones who were attacked from behind; she might have been able to get the jump on them. But the others were full frontal, they would have seen in coming and it wouldn't take much to stop her."

"She's a woman. She probably distracted them with her...feminine wyles or something."

Sam smirked, "Feminine wyles?"

"Shut up," Dean snapped before Sam could say anything more.

Sam held up his hand in a _I'm leaving it alone _gesture and continued with what he was going to say, "How do we know if it's her?" He had asked the question as more of a thought process than an actual question; but Dean responded anyway.

"We ask her."

"We ask her?"

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes, "Are we going to keep repeating what the other one says before moving on or can we actually move on?"

Sam ignored him, "You want to just walk up to this grieving widow and ask, 'Hey have you been killing off all the people around here? People who tried to help your husband?'"

Dean stared at his brother and listened with a blank, but amused, expression before answering, "Well I figured we'd flash our badges, she'd let us in, we'd make her all comfortable with us, and then we'd ask her."

"Dean..."

Dean threw up his hands, "I don't know what you want me to tell you Sammy. You're the one with the puppy dog eyes of doom; you think of something." He walked around his bed and sat down, "Do I have to do everything?" After a few heart beats of scowling at each other, he laid back onto the bed and said, "You're research boy...so research."

Silently, Sam grabbed a pillow off his bed and threw it hard down onto his brother's face. Dean bolted uprigh and glared at Sam. "We aren't going to learn anything online that we didn't already know."

Dean continued to scowl for a long time; but soon his face turned into a look of deep concentration. After a few minutes he stood up and started towards the door, "Come on Snoopy." Just before he passed Sam, he reached around and biffed him upside the back of his head, Gibbs style. Sam's head snapped forward and he slowly turned to give Dean a dirty look. "Don't dish out what you can't take," Dean smirked before turning out the door. Sam just grit his teeth and followed him out to the Impala.

Sam and Dean had been sitting in the Impala outside Rebecca Hale's house for hours and of course, as always, the smacks and jabs had escalated until Sam yelled. Dean, of course, still couldn't help sneaking in a few more pokes and prods before Rebecca finally left.

The loud squeaks of the Impala's doors reminded Sam to pick up some WD-40 before there next stake out. He'd have to sneak out in the middle of the night again to spray it on the hinges because, of course, Dean thought the squeaks and groans of "his baby" were just a part of being a classic. One of these days those classic squeaks were going to cause a classic problem; like a blown sneak-up attempt for example. As was usually the case, Dean bent down to pick the lock while Sam tried to nonchalantly glance around for any potential witnesses. Dean stood up and opened the door then he turned to Sam and blew on the end of his lock-pick before shoving them back in his pocket. Sam rolled his eyes, _dork_.

The inside of the house was as "cute" as the outside was and it was glaringly obvious that Emmett had let Rebecca have her way with every inch of the place. There wasn't a single visible item that said that a man lived (or had lived) there, Dean noticed. "It looks like Martha Stewart threw up in here," he said as he looked over the knick-knacks that probably costed her three times what it had cost the lucky schmuck who had made them.

Sam started to look through papers on the desk in the livingroom while Dean went upstairs. They hoped that splitting up the house would allow them to search it thuroughly before she came back; whenever that was. Most of the stack were hospital bills with red "Past Due" stamps on them; getting back to normal was expensive. For the first time, Sam was happy that he and Dean never had to worry about that; credit card fraud had it's advantages.

He searched every inch of the livingroom, kitchen, dining room, and basement but found nothing. None of the set of knives on the counter were missing, there wasn't a suspicious amount of duct tape in the pantry, and her spice rack held nothing cinnamon and nutmeg; no wolfsbane or hair of dog in sight.

The first room Dean came to was a bathroom and after a quick search under the sink and through the drawers, he moved on. The house was small and there were only three more doors down the hall. The first door was to the master bedroom and the vibrant dots of Harley Davidson black and orange were refreshing after so much robin's egg blue and lavender. _So this is were she forced all the masculinity of the house _he thought to himself. He started on the side of the room closest to him which was obviously hers. After finding nothing in her dresser or nightstand that said, "I'm a serial killer" to him, he moved on to Emmett's side. On the night stand were two photos; one of he and Rebecca on their wedding day and one of a beautiful, gleaming black Harley Davidson. It was obvious in a second that the photo wasn't a "man I love my bike" photo but more of a "one day..." photo. Too bad that day would never come. Dean turned around and pulled open the closet and was a little confused by what he saw. Instead of the usual scene where the woman's clothes pushed the man's into one little corner of the "shared" closet; the majority of the space was filled with masculine t-shirts and dress clothes. He pulled box after box off the shelf above the clothes but found nothing but shoes, hats, and cheesy holiday socks. He found nothing between or behind the hanging clothes and no "murder kit" sat at the bottom of the closet either. He closed the closet and sighed in frustration. Maybe they had it all wrong.

He hollered, "Find anything?" down the stairway before continuing to the next room when Sam shouted "No" in return. He pulled open the door at the end of the hall and wasn't surprised when it turned out to be nothing more than a linen closet. Finally he opened the last door and stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't know what to think as he took in the powder blue nursery in front of him. Of course, like the rest of the house, it was picture perfect; from the grand white crib to the wide-eyed baby animals painted on the walls. Rebecca hadn't looked pregnant when they had spoke to her; this was a room of what they had thought their future would hold and that thought got to Dean. Then he saw all the other, out-of-place things in the room, and realized the place was filled with loss. All arond the little room sat the things that had been missing down stairs; pictures of Emmett and Rebecca together and ugly pictures that guys love but their wives and girlfriends insist would look better in rooms out of sight of visitors. Every piece of Emmett.

It was a shrine.

Unsettled, Dean quickly looked around the room, careful not to move anything from its place and left. He almost ran into Sam as he came to the bottom of the stairs. "Find anything?" Sam asked.

Sam's voice pulled Dean out of his head, "No. You?"

"No." Sam noticed the look on Sam's face, "You alright?"

Dean looked him in the eye and was about to say something when a car pulled into the driveway. Sam ducked and looked out the window, "It's her. There's a door through the kitchen, come on."

Dean followed his brother quickly into the kitchen as Rebecca came to the front door. He saw her pause after she turned the key and realized the door had already been unlocked. She glanced around her and cautiously stepped back before glancing at the windows. It was still early, Sam and Dean had been too busy digging up Emmett's grave to sleep last night, so he knew she couldn't see through the windows; but he froze when she looked right at him. It seemed like a long time; but it must have been a second before her gaze continued to the next window and Sam smacked him on the arm. As he closed the door behind him, he saw her dialing her cell phone and hurrying off the porch.

Sam and Dean had cut through a few yards before they walked around the corner and back to the awaiting Impala. "That was close," Sam mumbled.

"Understatment," Dean responded while he stared back at Rebecca Hale's house.

Sam noticed his brother's oddly depressed demeanor, "You okay?"

"Yeah..."

"Did you see something in there?" Sam asked but Dean just gave a uncommitted grunt in repsonse. Sam waited for awhile but Dean never elaborated or made any move to start the car and leave so he started to think out loud. "Something was off in there..." he ran his hand through his hair, "I didn't see one picture of her husband in there. Heck, there wasn't even anything that told me a man had ever lived there..."

Dean sighed and turned his attention from the house to the steering wheel, "She moved it all upstairs." He glanced at Sam, "It was there, she just couldn't handle see it all the time. It doesn't mean she forgot about him."

"Makes sense," Sam mumbled as he thought of Jess.

Dean seemed to snap back to himself and he started the Impala, "Anyway, the point is we didn't find anything that screamed "serial killer." Sam nodded in agreement, "We should probably get out of here before the cops show up."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Nadia had been asleep for 14 hours and, between the tv and constantly glancing out the windows, Andrea was driving herlself crazy. She'd swear she was wearing a path in the carpet from all the pacing; she couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, she couldn't even hold still for more than a few seconds. She was dying to pour ice water on Nadia to wake her up so she could stop panicing; but she knew that she would wake up on her own when she was ready. She could wait that long, even if it meant she had to keep having mini heartattacks whenever she heard something from outside. The tv made it obvious what Nadia had done and she need to know how worried she should be. Nadia wouldn't just walk in there without a plan, of that much Andrea was sure; but how good had that plan been? That of course was what had her so paniced. That was the only reason. It had nothing to do with the fact that her best friend had just killed over 600 people... No, it had nothing to do with that little fact. She sighed, _she obviously feels insanely guilty about the whole thing. And they were prisoners. No, better than that, they were going to be killed anyway. It wasn't like she walked into a school and massacred a bunch of innocent kids._ No matter how much she denied it or tried to talk herself out of it, her best friend had killed and that undeniably filled her with anxiety.

As if she could sense the panic rolling off her best friend, Nadia started to wake up. She expected to forget about what had happend for at least a few blissful drowsy seconds before it all came rushing back; but as usual, she had no such luck. Instead of the crippling guilt she had felt last night, she surprised by what she felt now. As if she were wrapped in some sort of protective seran wrap, she could feel the pressure of the guilt and pain but it couldn't break through like it had before.

"Finally!" Andrea huffed and plopped down on the couch. "What happened?" she glanced at the tv screen, "Okay, stupid question... Are you alright? How did you do it? Do they know it was you? Are they going to be coming here?"

Nadia raised her hand to stop her before she could get any more questions out. Andrea pressed her lips together as she watched her friend weakly pull herself into the sitting position. Nadia sighed as if it hurt her to do so, "They won't be coming here." Andrea relaxed and listened, "I'm fine," her jaw clenched in contradiction, "They have no possible way of knowing it was me; I wasn't myself...they didn't get me on camera and I wore gloves."

"How did you do it?" Andrea asked.

Nadia looked away from her and her face scrunched up like she was trying not to throw up, "I don't want to talk about it."

Andrea stared down at the couch, "What did you mean when you said you weren't yourself?"

Nadia sighed, "I took on the appearance of a guard."

"Oh," was all she could think to say. "How did you do it?"

It was the same question but the atmosphere of it gave it a completely different meaning, "...I...didn't do it..."

Andrea looked confused but then she understood, "Aidan."

Nadia nodded, "Aidan."

"You let her...?"

"Yeah. I couldn't have done it myself."

The obvious sincerity in her words made Andrea feel guilty for even thinking all the accusations that had passed through her head. "How did you come back?"

"She let me. She made sure I could handle it and then she stepped back."

Andrea could hear the softness in her words, "That was nice of her... I figured she'd take the body and run," she smirked.

Nadia rolled her eyes, "She felt different afterwards," she didn't want to talk about the exact moment she had felt the change. A shiver ran through her body and she rubbed her arm to soothe the chill. She smirked, "I can't believe she didn't have some smart ass response to that..."

_"Would you quit poking and proding... I'm exhausted."_

_How you be exhausted? _Nadia glanced at the clock, _we got like fourteen hours of sleep._

_"You got fourteen hours of sleep,"_ Aidan corrected. "_I was busy keeping the boogey man away,"_ she sounded embarassed by what she'd admitted.

Andrea waited while Nadia continued her internal conversation.

_You did something nice...for me,_ Nadia was a little shocked and fought to keep a smirk off her face.

_"Don't flatter yourself, I knew neither of us would be able to get any sleep if I wasn't proactive. Plus you are no good to me if you resemble a zombie more than a human being."_

Nadia couldn't fight the smirk any longer as she said, _Uh huh, I'm sure that's all it was._

"Sorry to interrupt; but what is so funny?" Andrea asked.

Nadia smiled, "Sorry. I finally got Aidan's attention; it seems she was busy keeping my nightmares away." She bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"How is that funny?"

Nadia laughed and it felt like a little bit of that pressure outside the seran wrap let up, "You'd just have to know her."

"I'd rather not," Andrea replied in a flat voice. That sobered Nadia immediately and she was instantly uncomfortable. "What's wrong?" Andrea asked.

"Nothing," Nadia lied. She knew what was wrong; Andrea's criticism had made Nadia defensive and she was trying to figure out why. Then she realized that her best friend had critized a part of her. Logic told her that what she felt was stupid; Aidan was demonic, of course Andrea wouldn't want to meet her. _You wish you didn't know her. You're being stupid._ She stood up as if the couch cushion had shocked her, "I'm gonna take a shower."

"O...kay," Andrea said as she watched her walk away.

Nadia shut herself off as she showered and got dressed. She gathered her things from around her room and packed them away in her bags. What she came here to do was done and she was starting to grow uncomfortable with her best friend; it was time to move on.

_"So many to kill, so little time,"_ Aidan mumbled.

Nadia's jaw clenched, _Go back to sleep,_ but she could feel Aidan fade away again before she could finish thinking the words. She went through her room and the bathroom three times before she was satisfied that she had everything. Aidan's earlier words, _you need her,_ ran through her head and she sighed and fell back on the bed. _I do need her; but I can see the questions in her eyes and I can't answer them. She seemed to really understand the pressure and fear that I was under, why I have to do this; I should have known it was too good to be true. She's never been in love. She doesn't know what it is like to willingly sacrifice so much for someone. We always wondered what brought us so close together; we're nothing alike, maybe that's finally starting to show. _The pain from that thougth wasn't stopped by the seran wrap; it ripped through her and brought on new tears. _How do I even have any left? And what is making me so numb to what I felt last night? _The fact that she seemed to be growing less and less horrified at what she had allowed done was making her nauseous.

She bolted upright and sat on the edge of the bed, _I have to get out of here._ She grabbed her bags and stood by her bedroom door debating on whether or not she wanted to face Andrea and say goodbye or chicken out and call her once she was already far away. Normally there would be no question, she'd have to say goodbye. But things had changed; as much as she might want to deny it, the look that was in Andrea's eyes this morning told her that much.

_I'm not a chicken. I found my mom's beaten corpse, watched my grandpa bleed to death in front of me, killed a child murderer with an axe, killed a demon who also happened to be my aunt, and agreed to a deal with (for all intensive purposes) the devil. And, oh yeah, there's that whole being half demon thing too. I'm not a chicken; but I think I have earned the opportunity to use some of the chickening-out points that I've earned over the last 24 years._

She turned around, walked over to her window, and dropped her bags into the little bit of space between Andrea's apartment and the one next door and climbed out after them. The houses were so close together that she pressed her back against the nieghbor's house and her feet across to Andrea's apartment and carefully shimmied her way down until she let herself drop to the ground. She look up to where she had just came and thought to herself, _I know one thing; the next place we go is going to be big and open. Like Montana or Wyoming or Colorado..._ She brushed off her hands, grabbed her bags, and headed out to her bike. As she came out from between the buildings, she was blinded by the sunlight, _Some place where it rains a lot, lots of clouds._ She smirked as she thought of spakling vampires and "one of the wettest places in the continental U.S." She didn't waste time getting the bike ready or saying goodbye to the apartment or California, except for a quick, _good riddance. _

After an hour on the road, Nadia pulled into a gas station and filled up. After she parked the bike in a far corner of the lot, she found her phone and punched in Andrea's number. Just before she hit "send," she chickened-out again and hit "end" instead. She sighed and sent a text message instead. _At least it's not a post-it note, right?_ she smirked. She shook her head at herself for how generic the message was: Had 2 leave. Sorry. Call u when i get where im goin. Im ok.. Sorry.

She sent the message, _ I give her five minutes tops. She'll run upstairs, look for me, and when she doesn't find me she'll call. I hope she calls._ She shook the possibilty of her not calling out of her head and realized Sam didn't know her new cell number. "Thanks a lot, Aidan," she grumbled to herself. She wasn't ready to talk to him but she didn't just want to send a text either; then she thought of what she used to do back at Stanford. She grabbed her iPod from her pocket, searched for the perfect song, and recorded the chorus on her phone. Then she sent "Friends" by Band of Skulls to Sam's phone and couldn't help chuckling as she pictured Sam listening to it. She didn't notice that she was crying until she felt the tickle on her cheek and quickly wiped it away before she started the bike and put her helmet back on. She glanced at her phone one last time but there was nothing new. As she shoved it in her pocket it rang and she pulled it back out, expecting Andrea. When she looked at the caller id, her breath caught in her throat as she read "Sam."

Once she got over the initial shock she realized that she really, really wanted to talk to him and she answered it before even thinking about it. "Sam!" it felt good to say his name.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

November 30th

Dean and Sam had spent the last couple hours staring at the wall and scratching their heads. "This has to have something to do with Emmett Hale, nothing else makes any sense," Sam said for the fourth time.

Dean rolled his eyes, "So you've said." He was starting to get cabin fever, "This is taking too long. We should have this thing solved by now." He ran his hand through his hair, "Who or what do you think it is?"

Sam gave him a frustrated look, "It must be some kind of monster that lives in the sewer or something; somewhere with easy access to the gym, the one guy's apartment, and that alley."

"So you're thinking it's a 'what?'"

Sam nodded, "And you don't?"

"No. This one's different; I just can't put my finger on why. For one thing, this whole days of the week pattern? Have you heard anything like that before? I haven't. And why would all these killings focus around one guy unless it was him doing it or someone close to him is. He didn't have any close family other than Rebecca and we didn't find anything at her house. If this is his ghost, then we're stuck waiting and hoping that no one else dies as proof. Then it still might not of been him; it could have just been a coincidence that they stopped after we salted and burned the guy," Dean threw up his hands and plopped back down on the bed.

"Whatever it is, it has started a pattern; so I highly doubt that it's just going to stop without finishing it."

"If it even is a pattern. It could just be a coincidence."

"Dean, how many things in our lives have just been coincidences?"

"Yeah, yeah I know..." Dean looked at his watch, "It's almost 4:30; why don't we get something to eat and then go check out the buildings and sewers on that block?"

Sam blew a frustrated breath through his lips, "Yeah, alright."

"Hardly any of these are empty..." Dean said as he looked down the road.

"Yeah, not very many places to hide... You take that one and I'll check out this one? Call if you find anything."

Dean grabbed his favorite hand gun and shoved it in his waistband and loaded his cut-off shotgun, "Sounds good. See you in a few." He jogged across the street while Sam closed the trunk and started toward the only other empty building on the street.

They had already been through five buildings one the other three streets that made up the infamous city block and found absolutely nothing. A door a little ahead of Sam opened and a young woman stepped out. Sam quickly tucked his gun inside his coat and then he realized she was the same sarcastic girl from the alley the other day. She was slipping on her coat while she walked towards him and then he caught her eye, "Hey, I know you. You're the fed poking around, right?" As she spoke she took in his very un-federal agent wardrobe.

He smiled, "Yeah. This is taking longer than expected. Hey, do you know Rebecca Hale?"

She shrugged, "Who doesn't? Her husband was beaten and left for dead right down the street."

"She from around here?"

She gave him an odd look, "Why don't you just ask her?"

He looked uncomfortable as he answered, "Well, she doesn't really like me that much and I feel bad; she's still grieving you know..."

"Whatever," she shrugged. _I don't have anything better to do and, he is pretty hot._ "She was born and raised here. In fact, for years her family owned most of the town."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Most of this block is made up of Sayer buildings."

"Sayer. That was her maiden name?" Sam asked and she nodded. "So she probably knows these buildings pretty well..."

"Yeah, I guess," she shrugged.

"Does she own any of them?"

"Uh...yeah..." she looked around. "The dance studio down the street, she rents out the building the newspaper is in on Monroe, a couple of empty places on Franklin, and another one on Monroe down by the hospital. I think that's it..." she looked around again, "oh, I forgot about that one across the street," she pointed at the building Dean had entered moments earlier. "That one creeps me out, it used to be an old hardware store. People say it's haunted; but it just gives me the creeps. It's no wonder she can't sell the thing."

"Haunted, huh?"

"Yeah. You now, the usual, store owner can't leave the place even after he's kicked the bucket." Sam smirked; she had a way with words.

"So she has keys to that place?"

"People tend to have keys to the places they own..." she gave him a questioning look.

"Right," he smiled. "Thanks again, you've been a big help."

He started to cross the street and find Dean when she stopped him, "Hey, where you from?"

He looked confused, "Kansas, why?"

She shrugged, "Just curious, you don't read like a Kansas boy."

He laughed, "I was born in Kansas," he shrugged, "haven't really been any place long enough to read like anywhere..." he wondered if that made sense.

She laughed, "O...kay. Good luck."

"Thanks."

He was about to cross the road when his phone rang. He grabbed it thinking it was Dean in trouble and hurried across the road while he looked at the name that came up. He hesitated as read "unknown" on the id; it obviously wasn't Dean. "Hello?" he answered it as he stepped onto the sidewalk. No one answered but an unfamiliar song played loudly in his ear. He turned the volume down and was about to hang up when he heard a familiar voice at the end. He froze just before he reached the door and played the message again just to be sure. It was her, no doubt about it. He'd forgotten all about her little quirk from Stanford. Whenever she just wanted to say something quick or didn't want to talk, she would send a song instead. He smiled and was about to hurry and find Dean when he realized that she'd called him, she didn't call Dean.

He chewed on his lip and then saved the number under Mantis; the old nickname he and Jess used to call her; it seemed more polite than Man-eater. Who would've thought the Mantis would fall for Dean? He figured Dean wouldn't be coming out anytime soon so he went back across the street and into his assigned empty building. He did a quick sweep throughout the inside and found nothing, so he grabbed his phone and called her back.

He smiled at the sound of her voice. "Hey Nadia."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"God, it's good to hear your voice," she smiled and tears filled her eyes.

"Yours too," she could hear the smile in his voice and it further eased some of the saran wrap pressure.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Same old, same old... How about you?"

She could hear the real question he wanted to ask, "Just taking care of things."

"I hope you're being smart about it," he said.

She was quiet for awhile, "Of course I am..." She paused for a few heartbeats and sighed, "This is so weird Sam; I don't want it to be like this."

"Neither do I; but I guess it kind of has to be, right?"

She bit her lip, "How is he?"

He gave one humorless chuckle, "How are you...?"

Tears instantly filled her eyes, again. She took a deep breath and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, "Understood."

Neither of them spoke for a long time while Sam waited for her to pull herself together. "So where are you?"

"Sam..." she warned.

"I'm not gonna come after you and I'm not gonna tell him...anything."

She blew a gust of air through her lips, "I'm leaving California right now."

Sam nodded, "How's Andrea?"

She smirked, "Good."

"So California, huh? Bet you love that," he smirked.

"Ah, you know me too well, Sam," she laughed. "I cannot wait to get away from here. They say cloudy days are depressing; they're wrong. The sun is way more depressing and everything around you is so bright and cheery it's just makes it even more obvious."

Sam laughed, "I bet you're headed for some place very cloudy, huh?"

"Alright, now you're scaring me," she laughed. "I am headed north, that's all I know."

"Why did you even go to California in the first place? I mean besides Andrea."

She looked down at the bike neither Sam nor Dean knew she had, "It is warmer." She hadn't thought about how cold it would be driving in rainy Washington on a crotch rocket, "And it had something I needed."

"Huh," was all Sam said in response.

"So...where are you?"

"Colorado. It's a weird case."

"Oh yeah? Want to talk about it?"

"There isn't much to talk about; we've been over and over everything and if there is an obvious answer, we're oblivious to it."

"Maybe I can help; fresh eyes and all that. Sometimes you search so hard for something that it's nearly impossible to see that it's right in front of you."

"It's worth a shot," he shrugged. He told her all about Emmett Hale and all the murders.

"Dean figured out the pattern?" she said in surprise.

He chuckled, "Yeah, and don't worry, he reminds me of that fact about every 20 minutes."

"He wouldn't be Dean if he didn't."

"So?"

"I'd put my money on the wife; especially after what you just found out."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking... Dean's going to be happy, he kept insisting it was her..."

"Well, you gotta let him have one once in awhile."

There was a beep in the background and Nadia and Sam both glanced at their phones, "That's me," Sam said. "It's Dean, maybe he found something..."

The lump that had finally left her throat came back when she thought of hearing his voice. "He called me but..." she remembered he didn't know about Aidan, "I dropped my phone and it broke..."

"Really?" he was surprised Dean had given in.

"Does he think I didn't want to talk to him?"

"I don't know, Nadia. I didn't know he had called." When she didn't say anything, he was sure of what she wanted to ask, "I'll try to work it into a conversation. Say you send me a text message or something." He smiled, "Nice message by the way."

She laughed, "I thought you'd like it."

Sam's phone beeped again, "Oh, I forgot he was trying to get through," he went to the nearest east-facing window and looked out at the Impala. Dean was starting to cross the street, "I better go before he thinks something's wrong."

"Okay," she wasn't entirely successful in keeping the sadness from her voice. "Watch the wife."

"We will... We miss you, Nadia."

"Love you both."

"You too. Bye."

"Bye."

She wiped the tears from her face and shoved the phone back in her pocket. She was just about to start the bike again when her phone beeped. She pulled it back out again and saw Andrea's name on the screen. Andrea knew that if Nadia didn't call then she wasn't ready to talk so she had texted her back. Nadia smiled and opened the text: Wish u hadn't left yet. R u ok? Sorry bout how i acted. B careful. LYLAS.

Nadia put the phone back in her pocket and started the bike but before she could even turn the throttle, her phone beeped again. She sighed and looked at the screen, another text from Andrea: Ur not mad at me r u? i'm really really sorry. i shouldn't have acted like that. i know who u r, that won't change. Promise. Sorry. Call me. SORRY!

Nadia laughed and shook her head. _I don't know what I was thinking. This is Andrea you're talking about; you know she reads into things way too much..._ She started to text her back but before she could send it, her phone beeped again: call me! Text me! PLEASE! just so i know ur ok! _Ease up a bit, I'm trying to..._ she quickly found the message she had started again and finished it. Before she sent it, she saved it again and grabbed a free newspaper from outside of the party store and snapped a hostage movie worthy proof-of-life picture of herself with a big smile. She sent the text message and picture to Andrea before she could respond. She climbed back on the bike and sped out of the parking lot before her phone could stop her again.

After a hundred miles or so, she stopped at a small grocery store and filled every empty space in her backpack with food and water; the trip to Washington was going to be a long one. _One nice thing I can say about California, it has every biker-friendly weather all year round. Maybe this whole traveling the country on the back of a motorcycle in winter wasn't such a brilliant idea..._

She didn't stop again until she thought that her bladder was either going to explode or she was going to dump the bike out of pure exhaustion.

The hotel wasn't fancy, granted it was probably better than anything Dean and Sam stayed in, but it had only the bare essentials, no cable or blow dryer. None of that mattered, all she wanted was a place to sleep and shower. She was barely able to wash her face and brush her teeth before she crawled onto the bed and crashed before she could even slip under the covers.

_"Where am I?" Nadia asked herself. She looked around back everything was green and shadows. Trees towered over head, their trunks covered with thick green moss and their leaves shined with fresh rain; but they did nothing to protect her from the freezing droplets. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to fight the cold that was sinking into her skin, every breath hung cloudy in the air before blending in with all the other moisture around her. She looked up through the tree tops and saw only black sky; no stars, no moon, only a night sky void of any trace of softening light. A stick broke behind her and she spun around in panic. A familiar warmth flooded her palms, her most comforting defense when she had no idea what she was up against. She frantically searched the shadows but couldn't get her legs to move. "Hello?" She rolled her eyes at herself; it's that what the stupid damsel always does just before someone comes up from behind and kills her? She spun around again to be sure nothing was creeping up behind her; nothing. Footsteps came from the same spot her had heard them before and she tensed, ready to send the fire in her palm at whatever came into the clearing._

_A figure stepped out of the shadows and watched her with a mixture of curiosity and distrust. "Dean?" shock flooded threw her and it took a second for her to pull the fire from her palm, "Sorry, I didn't know who it was... What are you doing here?"_

_He seemed to ease slightly at the sound of her voice; but something wasn't right. She had never known Dean to look so apprehensive or to be so quiet; he reminded her of a deer in headlights. He slowly pulled his lips apart and carefully licked them as he shifted his weight._ _His eyes were calculating and they made Nadia uneasy. She swallowed nervously, "Dean...what are you..."_

_"What am I doing here?" he voice was harsh and cold as he interrupted her. "You know why I'm here," his eyes bored into her as she shook her head and started to say something. "What have you done, Nadia?"_

_She flinched and gasped as if he had slapped her, no punched her, "I-I don't know wh-"_

_"Of course you do!" he snapped and took a threatening step towards her. She stumbled back and he stopped himself and continued, "You _killed _them, Nadia..." agony crept into his voice as he spoke._

_She shook her head, "I did it..."_

_"For me?" he said, barely able to control himself. He paused to regain control of his temper, "I never asked you to do anything for me."_

_"I couldn't just let you die!"_

_"That is exactly what you should've done! Now 1,000 people are dead, instead of just one..."_

_A thousand? Her brow furrowed, that wasn't right, she'd only just started. She shook her head, that didn't matter now, "Like you did Sam?" she snapped. He pulled his head back and his eyes narrowed but she continued, "_Just _one, _just_? Dean you are not just one!" This time he looked confused and was about to protest, but she wouldn't let him, "How many people have you saved, huh? And how many people do you think you'll continue to save?"_

_"No where near a thousand!"_

_"Every life you saved has another life attached to it! And you're not done yet."_

_"That wasn't your decision to make!"_

_"Kill one, save a thousand," the line from "Wanted" popped in her head._

_"Yeah, well you've kind of twisted that a bit haven't you?" he replied. She started to respond, but he jumped in before she could get a word formed, "I never thought I would really see the demon in you... But I guess things change, huh? People change. You've let that part of you take over...you aren't you anymore."_

_His words hit her like a wrecking ball to the gut and she stumbled backwards. She looked down in shock and to regain her footing, as she did so, she realized she could see through her arm. She stared at her hand as she turned it but it was nothing more substantial than the fog her breath had been earlier. She slowly looked up at Dean in wonder; but someone blocked her view. The figure was too familiar but Nadia refused to believe it until she walked around to see the person's face. As she stared at the face in wonder, dread and panic flooded over her, "Aidan," she whispered._

_She tore her eyes from her own face and looked at Dean; but he didn't seem to see her. His face was filled with shock and horror and he opened his mouth to say something but he seemed to choke on the words as he stared at what he thought was Nadia. Nadia was shocked by the look on his face, so she followed his gazed back to Aidan. Cold, pure black eyes stared back at her from a face that was no longer her's. "No," she whispered in horror and she took a stumbling step towards Aidan. A sudden flash of movement from the corner of her eye stopped her in her tracks. She snapped her head towards Dean and screamed, "No!" but couldn't get to him before he pulled the trigger._

_The shot rang in her ears and sent shockwaves ripping through her ghostly body. Her eyes made the infinitesimal move from the colt to Aidan; who was still standing up, mouth open in shock as she stared at Dean. She Nadia watched Aidan's knees buckle and fall to the ground, a sharp pain registered in her mind and she looked down and realized it wasn't shockwaves that had ripped through her. Blood soaked more and more of the transparent shirt she was wearing. A thump caught her attention and pulled her from shock; Dean had fallen to his knees and was staring back at her. _

_Her name was barely audible from his lips and he stared at the blood pouring from her. He finally blinked and desperately tried to get up and reach her. She could feel her knees giving out just as Aidan's had and she reached out to him but his hand passed through hers and she blew away into the wind..._

Nadia screamed and woke herself up. She bolted upright, drenched with sweat. She reached for the edge of the bed but her hand fell through empty air and she rolled off the edge and fell to the floor. In frantic desperation she crawled into the bathroom and barely made it to the toilet before she couldn't hold it in any longer. After hours of heaving and uncontrollable sobbing, her body shut down and she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep on the cold tile floor.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Dean's scouting mission had been much more successful than Sam's. "Oh, don't beat yourself up too much there, Sammy. It's just a further tribute to my superior hunting skills..." Dean smirked. Sam had been unusually quiet since Dean had shown him what he had found.

Sam rolled his eyes, "It's not all about you, Dean."

Dean scoffed, "You wish."

Sam rode silently in the passenger seat, thinking about Nadia's phone call and what Dean had, found. "So it's looking more and more like we missed something at Rebecca's house..." Dean shrugged, so Sam remembered something and continued, "Hey, you acted weird after we left her place... Did you find something?"

Dean thought back to the nursery, "They had a nursery."

"Oh," he wasn't sure what else to say. "That sucks..."

Dean gave him an odd look and a humorless chuckle, "You could say that."

"She didn't look pregnant," Sam said more to himself than Dean.

"Don't think she ever was...yet." They were quiet for awhile, "You know, I've been thinking..."

"Uh, oh."

"Ha, ha. What if this is a demon. I mean we ruled it out mostly for the lack of electrical storms and other signs. We've been dealing with so many high level demons that produce things like that; but what if this is just some lowly, non-supercharged piece of crap?"

Sam nodded, "Maybe we're getting a little too full of ourselves? Everyone wants our heads on a platter, but maybe we just stumbled across a demon minding his own...business..." he gave himself a confused look.

Dean gave his brother a "what" look and shook his head. "Question is, what do we do about it?"

"Stop it."

Dean rolled his eyes, "You think? I meant about proving it."

"Right, we can't just barge into her house and trap her..."

"Why not? That's what we usually do and I say, if it's not broke; don't fix it."

The abandoned building Dean had checked out had finally provided the missing link they needed. In a room to the back of the building, he found a duffle bag with all the necessities of the standard kill-without-getting-caught kit. Inside was a black hoodie, knife, leather gloves, and a manila folder. Sam had grabbed the folder and threw the bag in a dumpster a few buildings down the street. There was also a gallon of bleach, a bucket, and a box of blue booties. _You couldn't say she wasn't prepared, _Sam thought to himself. They had stopped back at the hotel to gather up some more weapons and look through the folder they had taken from the old building.

Dean grabbed a beer from the mini fridge and sat on the bed across from his brother, "Found anything yet?"

Sam glared back at him over the papers in his hand, "I could give you half, you know..."

Dean smirked, "Ah but, Sammy, you're so much better at all this research stuff than I am."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Oh, that again, huh?" Dean just shrugged and took another swallow while Sam went back to scanning the papers. "There's all kinds of stuff here... A transcript of Emmett's 911 call; complete with the names of the EMTs on call that day, Patterson and Arnold. A copy of the police report and witness statements, where Weston, Donovan, and Carlisle are all named." He shuffled more papers, "And of course, Jasper Morris' names, is all over these."

"Looks like we found our hit list," Dean got up and looked over Sam's shoulder. "Any clue as to who's next? Of even if there is going to be a next?"

Sam handed Dean some of the papers, "Look these over and write down any name you see..." He grabbed a notepad off the desk in the corner, ripped off a blank sheet, and handed it to Dean. They both carefully read and looked over their respective papers and wrote down any name that came up. When they were done they merged the two lists into one that listed ten names. They crossed off the six victims and were left with four new names. "Sheehan...why does that seem so familiar?"

"Because you just read it on a piece of paper..." Dean replied.

Sam ignored him and found the paper where he had seen the name. "You know, medical records aren't easy to get," he held up the paper, "unless you're family. Say a spouse..."

"I told you it was Rebecca from day one," Dean sighed.

_Not quite day one,_ Sam corrected. "If this is Rebecca than we shouldn't still be here. We should have called the cops and let them do their job a long time ago."

Dean held up a hand, signaling Sam to stop talking, "If it is Rebecca." Sam started to snap back at him about his contradicting his previous statement; but Dean wouldn't let him. "I know, I know... I just find it hard to believe that Rebecca, a just simple, human, Rebecca, could have done all this. I mean it was all pretty gruesome and I still can't see her getting the jump on all those guys..."

"So you think she's possessed?" Sam asked.

Dean looked thoughfully toward the window, "I do."

"Why?" Sam asked bluntly.

"Why?"

"Yes. Why would a demon be so hell-bent on this...mission...? What is was so special about Emmett Hale?"

Dean looked annoyed at Sam's logic, "I don't know!" He paced across the room, "Maybe we're sort of looking at the wrong person here? I mean...maybe we should be looking into Emmett's life a bit more..."

"Maybe. But for right now, let's try and shrink this list a bit more," Sam bent back down over the list of names. "Okay so, we still have Mark Sheehan, Clair Waldrop, Jonathan Bellan, and Grayson Garrett."

Dean picked through the papers until he found what he was looking for, "Grayson Garrett is only on the list because he typed up the witness statements; I doubt he had a big enough part in this to make our guy's or chick's list."

Sam had to smirk at Dean's gender distinction, "Clair Waldrop was Emmett's nurse. Since all the victim's so far have been men and she was only one of many nurses, I'm sure; I don't think she's top of the list either."

"But Mark Sheehan was his doctor. Some might believe he was resposible for Emmett's death..."

"Right, and Jonathan Bellan was the 911 dispatcher; also someone that a loved one might blame for Emmett's death..."

"Alright, so we have...4 days until who ever this is strikes next..." Dean said.

"Split up? I watch Johnathan Bellan and you watch the doc?" Sam thought for a bit, "But if this is a demon who has some wierd vandetta against those around Emmett Hale; we should check him out a bit more. And what if Rebecca doesn't have anything to do with any of this? She could be next too..."

Dean let his head fall backwards and he looked frustratedly up at the ceiling, "Why is it the everytime we make some headway on this case, something happens to make us take three steps back?"

"Well, if this is a demon thing, than they don't care about making it easy on us. And if this is a human thing than they don't want to take it easy on us."

"Sometimes I really hate this job," Dean growled.

Sam smirked, "Only sometimes?"

"Yeah only sometimes. Give me something I can; shoot with rock salt, or burn, or...cut the head off already! Give me some excitment!"

After more discussion, Sam went to the police station to find out anything he could about Emmett Hale's past while Dean went to watch Rebecca. Sam believed he, once again, got the raw end of the deal. After a few hours; Dean had followed her to the grocery store, a gas station, and Jasper Morris' house, where she and Leah talked for a long time. Sam found out that Emmett Hale had gotten one drunk driving ticket in his entire life, lost his father when he was six and was raised by a single mother, and his that killer was still very much at large.

"What was she doing at Leah Morris' house?" Sam asked after Dean got back to the hotel a 10 that night.

"How am I supposed to know, Sammy? Which flowers were annuals and which preferred the shade? They talked on the porch so I couldn't exactly sneak up on them to eavesdrop without them seeing me." Sam bristled at his brother's attitude, but Dean wouldn't stop talking long enough for him to say anything. "Rebecca seemed to do a lot of comforting and whispering and Leah didn't slap her of anything so I'm pretty sure she wasn't tell her that she blamed Jasper for her husband's death." He got up from the chair and kicked his shoes out of the way as he headed into the bathroom, "I'm exhausted."

While Dean cleaned up and got ready for bed, Sam watched tv. Dean crawled in bed without a word and Sam leaned back on his pillows and watched the news. One story caught his eye right away; apparently a fire had broke out at the San Quinten prison in California. Over 600 inmates had died in the inferno, most from what was being explained as smoke inhalation. A prison guard was in custody after being spotted in the area before the aledged act of arson. Something about the story irked Sam's senses and he immediately thought there was more to the story than what was being told. A demon attack? A spirit? He turned the power off and slid under the covers with a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was obvious, he just didn't know what it was.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Nadia woke up on the bathroom floor confused about how she'd gotten there. As she pulled herself up, she winced as her abdoman protested the movement and, looking in the mirror it all came back. The dream. Being shoved out of her own body, like a spirit of the dead. The torture in Dean's eyes. Dean pulling the trigger. The pain in his eyes as he fell to his knees. She gasped and looked down at herself as pain shot through her body; no bullet hole, no blood, she was alive.

_"That wasn't so pleasant for me either,"_ Aidan grumbled.

The sound of Aidan's voice in her head made Nadia's body flush with anger. It was her fault, she pushed her out, she made Dean kill them. She had hurt him. Nadia strode into the bedroom, changed her clothes, threw her belongings in her bag, and left as fast as she could. She knew it was stupid to think she could run away from Aidan; but she couldn't help trying. The bike was racing down the road before 15 minutes had passed.

Aidan had been quiet since leaving the hotel but she couldn't hold her silence any longer, _"So, where are we going?"_ Nadia ignored her, _"I'm gonna take the silence as an okay to keep talking..."_ She waited but still got no response, _"You do realize you're going north, right? It is December, so...the farther north you go, the colder it gets... You are on a motorcycle, you do realize that right?"_ She wasn't sure why, but Nadia's refusal to answer her made her all the more desperate to get some kind of reaction from her other half. She sighed internally, _"This is about that dream, isn't it?"_ Pain shot through Nadia but as quickly as it had come it was covered by a pure white hatred that made, even Aidan, shrink back. She decided not to say anything else for awhile.

Nadia crossed the Oregon border and headed straight for a hotel. This time she decided on more expensive accommodations, complete with a large jacoozi where she could work out the chill. Her body was tense from the cold and the anger towards Aidan. She slipped into the hot water and sighed, "Aidan, I think we need to talk." She was trying to relax her tense muscles but the feel of Aidan coming forward was making it impossible.

_"Over your hissy fit now?"_ Aidan asked.

Nadia bit her tongue and calmed herself, she knew they had to get passed this sooner or later. She decided on mental communication, in an effort to stay calm, _No; but the sooner we get this out of the way, the better._

_"You do realize your freaking out over a _dream_, right? Something that hasn't and probably never will happen?"_

_I'm freaking out because..._ she tried to find a way to explain it clearly, _because, if there is any truth to what happened in that dream; then I may never see him again. And worse yet, is that I may decide to never see him again after this is over; because I can't have him look at me like that. I can't put him through that._

_"Okay...so why all the hostility towards me?"_

_Because you are the manifestation of every bad decision I have made in my entire life._

_"Decision? I'm not your decision. I never was. You didn't choose me; I was genetically programed in your DNA."_

_You're a demon, Aidan, I am supposed to hate you._

_"Okay, understood. But I think you know and I will--begrudingly--admit that I am not like other demons. How could I be? I am..." _she searched for the right words, "_a demon with a conscience. Your conscience; but a conscience none the less. I affect you in ways like: making you more confident and stronger. You affect me in ways like: feeling guilty and horrified and...soft. I really got the raw end of the deal on this one..."_

Nadia's muscles were finally easing, along with her feelings towards Aidan. _We're both pretty...screwed with this whole arrangement. But I guess we should make the most of it, right?_ she tried to sound enthused but Aidan laughed. _Let's just focus on getting this deal done and then we can think about what will happen afterwards._

_"Gee, that's only what I've been saying from the beginning,"_ Aidan mumbled. _"Sounds good."_

_Now,_ Nadia slid further under water, _we need a new plan._

_"Well, I can tell you that going north was a stupid idea."_

_Shut up. I wanted to get away from the sun._

_"You deffinitely succeeded."_

_If I remember right, Florida is second on the list for the highest population of inmates on death row..._

_"See, south. It's sort of nice that they're all conviently located for someone who insists on riding a motorcycle."_

Nadia ignored that,_ It's the sun, i'm telling you. It fries their brains and makes them kill people._ Aidan laughed at that and so did Nadia. _Oregon all the way to Florida..._Nadia whined.

_"Or, here's a thought, we could jump on this cool new invention called a plane and be there in like a few hours..."_

_You're right._

_"I am?"_

_Well, I highly doubt that Dean is constantly watching airline manifests. Besides, Sam would let me know if he was coming after me._

_"Oh yes, you had that touching little conversation..."_

_Yes, we did. _ Nadia wasn't going to let Aidan bring her down any longer.

That night, Nadia slept a dreamless sleep.

First thing in the morning, Nadia went to the lobby to book a flight. She was able to land a seat in bussiness class for a flight that left in two hours. The airport wasn't very busy, so she decided to take a few minutes to enjoy the scenery. The snow had melted a couple of days earlier so everything was lush and wet. After a cup of hot chocolate at a little cafe, she sat on a bench that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. It was hauntingly beautiful. The cold was biting through every layer of clothing and timing was ticking down until her flight arrived, so she jumped on the bike and headed straight to the storage facility she had already rented a unit in. Packing as much in her backpack as she could, she walked the short distance back to the airport and started the long journey through security.

It felt like it had been hours by the time she made it to her assigned seat and plopped down. Business class wasn't too full, but she was still surrounded by other travelers and sleeping didn't come easy; but it was the best way to pass the time.

A few minutes later she was woken up by the passenger beside her drumming the arm rest along with the music blasting from his headphones. _Personal headphones my foot,_ she thought to herself. Aidan was tucked comfortably away in some far corner of her mind; oblivious to the commotion around her. Without a second thought, she--fueled by irritation--turned to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He pulled off his headphones, "Yeah?"

She smiled sweetly, reached out and took his hand, "I think you're getting tired. You should sleep," she stared him straight in the eye. His expression glazed over and he nodded before his head dropped. She sighed in relief, glanced around to unknowing passengers, and drifted back to sleep herself.

Six and a half hours later, she exited the plane in Jacksonville, Florida and headed straight for Avis. The mustangs and cameros were tempting; but in the hopes of staying, inconspicuous so she chose a Chevy Aveo.

The Avis guy lead her out to the parking lot on the side of the airport and when the heat hit her, her mood deflated. Ugh, she grumbled. _Todo, we're not in Oregon anymore..._ She tried to enjoy the warmth still left in the air as he searched for the car; but the humidity had her sweating before that was possible.

"Found it," he hollered over five cars. "Right this way," he waved. With a sigh, she surrendered to the weather and walked to the car. He handed her the keys and opened held the door open for her, "Here all by yourself?"

She felt him look her up and down and recognized the wistfull tone to his voice; it was all she could do to not roll her eyes. Instead she smiled, "Yup."

"Well, there are a lot of great beaches around I'm sure you'd love," his smile was sickeningly flirtatous.

_Gag me._ "I'm not really a beach person. Hate the sun, actually," she grumbled, trying to shut him up. "Well, thanks. Have a nice night," her voice was cold. It wasn't that he was bad looking; but he just didn't realize who he was being compared to in her eyes. There was no way he could measure up to a demon hunting, death defying, arrogant, gorgeous green-eyed--she thought back to her conversation with Sam a month ago--angel. Before he could say another word, she was starting the car and pulling away. It was all she could do to wait until she left the parking lot to roll down the window; she felt like she was suffocating, the air was stifling.

Like she'd done what seemed like so many times already, she pulled into the first decent hotel she saw and got a room for three nights. That was all she would allow herself to stay. She needed a time limit; that she'd learned from her much-too-long stay in San Quentin. Another thing she learned, was that she needed to be more prepared. This time she wasn't going to go in expecting all the inmates to be conveniently located in one wing; only to find them separated into three different areas. For that type of research, there was something she was going to need.

Nadia went to the front desk and asked where the nearest computer store was and the clerk hastily wrote out directions. She hurried out to the rental and fought traffic to get to where she had been directed. The nerves settled a bit when she saw the familiar yellow sign of a BestBuy; the familiarity of it made her feel more grounded.

On a mission, she stride into the store and went straight to the computer section of the store. She walked around the displays scanning each of the descriptions, not really sure what she wanted and didn't want. "Can I help you find something?" She turned to find a young woman gazing at her questioningly.

"Yeah... I need a laptop," she looked around, "obviously," she laughed. "It has to have wireless internet, a fair amount of memory, CD/DVD burner...and that's all I know for sure."

The girl smiled, "Okay. Is there a price point you have in mind?"

She shook her head, "Nothing matters except finding one with everything I need."

"Alright. Um, what will you be using it for mostly?"

_Looking up prison statistics so I know where I'll kill the most people at a time. You know, nothing big,_ she thought to herself. "Research mostly."

She led Nadia to the other side of the display counter, "These are my personal favorites if you're looking for something that is good for surfing the net and downloading music. This one here comes with the new Microsoft 7; all the others, you'd have to buy the software separately. It has good memory and, it's unlta thin, so it has a pretty impressive battery life."

"I didn't think about that. Long battery life would be awesome." She looked at the price, $829.99; not bad. "Facial recognition?" she read on the card beneath the computer.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Any sensitive information you might have on here can be protected so that only your face will allow it to be opened."

That sounded very good, "I'll take it." She realized how that quick and relieved response might be taken, "My brother..." she added.

"Yeah, I have one of those. They just can't seem to be happy enough with their own computer, can they?" she smiled.

"No. They can't."

Once she had the computer back at the hotel, she was dying to play with it and get some research done; but she was exhausted. She plugged it in to charge and then decided that a couple of hours of sleep wouldn't hurt, so she curled up on the bed and switched off the light.

A couple of hours later the alarm woke her up and she slapped it off and then laid there trying to talk herself out of bed. _"You know, you could just let me take over for awhile and let yourself get some sleep..."_ Aidan responded.

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't ya?" she replied to the ceiling. She sighed and went into the bathroom to wash her face and wake herself up. After running downstairs to grab a bagel and hot chocolate, she sat in one of the comfy chairs around the table and turned the laptop on.

_"Ooo, a new toy..."_ Aidan sounded very excited.

"It is not a toy. It's for research," she continued to reply out loud; it made her feel less crazy--as backwards as that sounds--and less alone. "Got to love the internet," she said a half hour later. "As of yesterday, Florida State Prison had 391 death row inmates. The highest number of executions they've had is 8, back in 1984."

_"I'm about to put a big blemish on their record."_

"Those won't be executions; those will be considered deaths," Nadia pointed out. "Wait," she continued reading off the screen, "Union Correctional Institute also holds death row inmates..." To be sure, she scrolled through pages and pages of the inmate population at both prisons, counting each time the "Release Date" column read "Death Sentence." She was confused and upset to find that only 62 inmates had "Death Sentence" beside their names in Florida State and 3 in the Union Correctional Institute.

_"Well, where are the other...326?"_ Aidan demanded.

"I don't know," Nadia snapped in reply. "It said all male death row inmates are housed at one or the other."

_"Wait! Go back,"_ Aidan hollered. Nadia flinched and pressed the backspace button. _"It gives their eating schedule..."_

"So?" Nadia said. She could tell Aidan was coming up with something cunning and--to her--exciting.

_"Poison."_

"What?"

_"Poison. You could get in there and slip something into their food. Something rare or exotic. Something that would be hard to detect or wouldn't be thought of fast enough."_ She was sitting on the edge of her figurative seat, _"Look up poisons."_

"Oh, well why don't I just look up how to make a bomb and the White House blueprints while I'm at it?"

Aidan sighed and rolled her eyes, _"Facial recognition, remember? Besides, I think the FBI has better things to do than monitor things like who's looking up obscure poisons. Their too preoccupied with things like, oh...mysterious prison fires, for instance. And if someone does say something--which they won't--you can say you were curious or you were writing a story or something."_

As much as she hated to admit it, Aidan had a point. Nadia typed "poisons" into Google and scrolled down until she found a 10 popular poisons list. Castor beans, water hemlock, and strychnine were the most intriguing to both her and Aidan. She looked for more information on castor beans and discovered that they were from India and Eastern Africa and that one--if chewed well enough--could be fatal. What Nadia found most interesting about them, was that they looked like a bean. Like a bean that could blend in well with all the other food on a prisoner's plate.

"Water hemlock is found all throughout North America, particularily in wet marshy areas--like Florida--and should be handled with extreme care. It is commonly mistaken for Queen Anne's Lace and the root is the most toxic." Nadia thought about what she'd read, "Well, that might be the easiest to find; but I'm not sure how we'd get enough of it in to poison all the inmates..."

She moved on to strychnine and read all she could find, "I don't think this is our best bet. It's got to be hard to find and it works through inhalation or injection; I think we should stick to poisoning the food. That sounds safest."

_"Too bad, that one sounds fun,"_ Aidan referred to how the poison kills; strychnine attacked the nervous system and caused extreme contortions and extremely painful death throes.

"Yeah, sounds like a blast," Nadia rolled her eyes.

After finally agreeing on their poison of choice, Nadia and Aidan scoured the internet for everything they could find on water hemlock. "There is a plant specialist not too far away that probably knows where we could get some of the plant," Nadia said.

Aidan growled in annoyance, _"Look, I now you were trying to impress Dean and Sam by doing things their way so that they would accept you as a real hunter... But, here's the thing, you are not a hunter. Not like them anyway. You are half demon. You have abilities they could never dream of; use them."_

Nadia watched the images and listened to the storyline that Aidan played for her. "You want me to just walk in there and ask for some very toxic and dangerous water hemlock?"

_"Why not? All you'd have to do is make everyone let you in and implant the suggestion that it would be a good idea to hand you the plant into her little pea-brain. And you know what? If you don't feel comfortable doing it; I'd be happy to take over for awhile."_

"Yeah, I'm sure you would." Nadia thought about that and how Aidan had actually been quite well behaved and even nice. "Alright, this can be a test run. If you behave, then maybe I'll let you out more often."

Aidan rolled her eyes, _"So this is my goldfish before you let me get the puppy that I really want?"_

Nadia smirked, "Yup. Take it or leave it."

An hour later, Nadia pulled the rental car into the parking lot of Santa Fe College. "Alright," she sighed and turned off the car, "you know what to do. Make it quick and behave."

_"Yes, mother,"_ Aidan replied dryly before pushing her way to the front. She opened the door and shoved the keys in her pocket after locking the doors. She scanned the building and the campus around her, _funny how we keep ending up on college campuses after you skipped out on yours,_ she thought to Nadia.

_"Bite me,"_ Nadia replied.

Aidan smirked. She stretched her limbs and enjoyed the freedom for a minute before heading toward the building. She remembered every door and hallway to the biology department and Dr. Christine Chance, the plant specialist's office. A quick glance down and hall showed no one and through the window, she could see an older woman leaning over a microscope. Aidan gave herself bright red hair, glasses, and a scrawny body before she opened the door to the lab. The woman looked up in annoyed surprise and Aidan walked straight up to her without any apologies or introductions. "Can I help you?" Dr. Chance asked. _Huh, what are the chances of that?_ she thought.

_"What?"_ Nadia asked.

_Another "Chance..." Remember that delicious and oh so helpful, piece of man at San Quentin? His name was Chance too,_ Aidan pointed out but Nadia ignored her so Aidan focused on Dr. Chance. "I need water hemlock. The more, the better."

Dr. Chance chuckled in disbelief for a second, "Excuse me?" She stared at Aidan, but when she didn't respond, she continued, "That is a very dangerous plant, I can't just hand it out to every rude girl who barges into my classroom."

"Yes, well," Aidan responded airily, "I am not just every rude girl... Now, like I said, I need water hemlock. Preferably the root."

She stared at Dr. Chance with that hypnotic gaze and the doctor's face melted into blankness. "Of course," she said in a daze, "I will be right back." She turned and went through a door at the back of the classroom and re-emerged a minute later with a large shoe box and handed it to Aidan. "This is all I have."

Aidan opened the box and found it half full of dried roots with all of the plant chopped off the top. The roots were very small so there were dozens of them inside. She put the cover back on, "Thank you. How toxic is this stuff?"

"Um..." she tried to blink away the haze that Aidan was surrounding her with; but it was useless. "A single bite of them has been known to kill an adult."

Aidan raised her brows, impressed, "Thank you very much. You've been an immense help." Aidan nudged Nadia as if to be sure she was paying attention to how polite and well-behaved she was being. Then she turned and walked out of the building with the shoebox safely in her hands. Once she got to the car, she placed it gently into the passenger seat and left the parking lot with out a backward glance.

"See how much easier that was?" Aidan said smuggly.

Nadia rolled her eyes, _"Of course it's easier, you're not giving them a chance to use their brain."_

"Using your brain is overrated anyway." She felt lighter and was rearing to go as she drove back to the hotel. "Tomorrow is D-day. She said one bite could bring one of those pieces of crap down, and with what she gave me, we should be able to wipe out all of 'em."

_"Right. As soon as we get back we have to plan exactly how we are going to get it into the food of just the deathrow inmates and no one else."_

_You're such a party pooper,_ Aidan thought back. She could feel Nadia's apprehension, _don't worry, this is going to go so much smoother than San Quentin._ And Nadia knew she was right; what had just happened at the college told her that much and they would be long gone before the hemlock actually took fatal affect. _A walk in the park._


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The sounds of talking slowly grew more and more distinct as Sam woke. When he rolled over, he saw Dean sitting on the edge of the bed watching tv and cleaning his gun. He rolled onto his back and half listened to the woman on the television; but the mention of San Quentin reminded him of what he'd heard before going to sleep. "Hey," he said sleepily and Dean glanced at him and nodded in acknowledgment, "what's going on?"

"Some fire at the prison," Dean mumbled.

Half of Sam's brain wanted to confront Dean about his strange behavior lately--enough was enough--and the other half had almost grasped what about the story had grabbed his last night. "California..." he said to himself.

"Hate to break it to you, dude, but we are so not in California. If we were, I would so be at the beach checking out all the chicks in what they call," he air quoted with his fingers, "swimsuits."

Sam snorted, "When have you ever, in your life, went to the beach?"

Dean's hands froze and he thought for a moment and then tipped his head to the side, "Touche."

The mention of Dean checking out "chicks" on the beach made Sam think of Nadia. "So... Nadia called me yesterday..." he watched Dean, who glanced up at the tv and back at the gun in his hand; but Sam knew he had his interest. "She said you tried to call." Dean glanced over at him, looking very annoyed; not only with Sam but also with himself. Sam chuckled humorlessly, "It does make you weak or anything. It's a normal thing to do," he tried to point out.

"Yeah, because we're normal."

Sam rolled his eyes and sat up. "You've been acting like... Not like you. I've been trying to keep my mouth shut; but this whole," he gestured to Dean with his hand, "'I'm-so-not-affected-by-this' thing is crap. It's thrown us all out of sync."

"Don't be a drama queen, Sammy," Dean sighed and tossed the gun back into his duffle bag.

Sam clenched his jaw and tried to stay calm, "I'm not being a drama queen, Dean. Half the time you're throwing a pity party for yourself and the rest of the time you're acting like the last few months never even happened." This time Dean was the one to clench his jaw. "I know you're not the type of person who has some big, pivitol moment where you spill your guts and say what you're really feeling; but..." He searched for a way to break through and get Dean to respond; so he said the only thing that he knew would work, "This is affecting the job."

Dean turned to Sam with an incredulous look on his face, "Affecting the job? Who found a pattern in all this?" he pointed to himself. "Who always said it was Rebecca? Huh?" He threw his arms up, "You want some big, grand emotional moment? Fine! You want to know what I feel? It's killing me! My entire life, I've never gotten close to anyone other than you, dad, and Bobby. Until Nadia. And she left." He stared at Sam for a couple of beats, "She left, Sam. And why?" he smiled coldly. "She left because of me. Because I made a deal and because I got close to her. She left because of me."

"For you," Sam replied softly.

"For me, right. Thanks for the correction, Sammy. She's out there doing God knows what because I got close to her and she feels like she needs to save me. She could be dead right now and I wouldn't even know it." He dropped back onto the bed and his whole body sagged as if deflated. "I can't do anything," he shrugged. "She won't let me do anything. We," he looked at Sam, "tried everything to get me out of this deal and somehow she found a way? And I know that you know how she did it; I need you to tell me what she agreed to. Where is she Sam? What is she doing? How did she get me out of this deal? I have to know, Sam."

Sam was starting to regret promising Nadia that he would keep his mouth shut. "I can't tell you that. But," he quickly added when he heard Dean's quick intake of breath, "I can tell you that as of yesterday she was leaving California."

"California?" Dean seemed distracted by the word.

"California," Sam nodded and then froze as something finally fell into place. _California..._He glanced at the tv which now was playing some kid's show and he felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He stared at the floor, unbelieving.

Dean caught the sudden change in Sam's demeanor, "Sam?" When Sam glanced at him and then erased the shocked look from his face as if he just realized what he'd looked like, Dean knew something was up. "Sam what is it?"

Sam avoided eye contact as looked around himself like he'd lost something, "Nothing, I just...thought of something, is all. No big deal. Um... We should probably get going," he stood up quickly and strode to the bathroom.

_Califonia._Something about the word had sparked something in Sam's mind, that much was obvious. But what was that something? Sam obviously didn't want Dean to know what he'd realized; so there was only one thing that this whole apiphany could relate to: Nadia. He spun around, "Sam!"

Sam stopped just as he reached the door and paused before he turned. He tried to look like he didn't feel like he was about to be sick, "Yeah?"

Dean's eyes narrowed, "California. Nadia." He glanced at the tv where Sam had so frantically looked at a moment ago, "The fire at San Quentin... Does that have something to do with Nadia?" He didn't see how it possibly could; but there was some connection there that Sam didn't want him to see. A memory flashed to the front of his mind. Nadia was telling him how her Aunt Themi had told her that she couldn't stay good forever... He wasn't even aware of the fact that he was slowly shaking his head from side to side. _A connection Sam does want me to know about. A fire. Nadia can't stay good._His head felt detachted from his body, "Did she, did Nadia do that?" He could barely hear himself ask the question but he couldn't say the words any louder.

Sam's eyes dropped to the floor, "I..."

"Don't lie to me."

"...don't know."

"She said she couldn't stay good."

Sam's eyes widened, "No, Dean. That's not it at all. I just talked to her yesterday," he shook his head.

Dean looked directly at him, "That fire happened two days ago. When she talked to you," he looked like the words were choking him, "did she sound like anything was wrong?"

"She sounded normal," Sam tried to comfort his brother.

"Normal?" Dean looked disgusted and Sam knew that was the wrong word to use. "She didn that," he pointed at the tv, "and she was normal?"

Sam looked around the room as if there was someone else he could plead with to take over his side of the conversation; but he was on his own. _I didn't sign up for this_, he thought to himself. "Okay. Dean, there is something you need to know. I'm going to tell you about Nadia's deal. But you have to promise me you'll let me get through the whole thing, alright?" Dean just stared back at him and he took that as an agreement; so he told him all about the one thousand souls and Nadia's loopholes. "See, she found a way around the deal. That fire killed deathrow inmates, Dean." He sounded much more okay with the whole thing than he actually felt.

"Six hundred people," Dean said numbly.

"People who were already going to die. Bad people, Dean. Murderers. Rapists."

"People."

"How many things have we killed because they've killed people? Huh?"

"Demons, werewolves, ghosts."

"Killers." Sam was starting to see the brilliance in Nadia's plan, "How is what she did worse? Just because they have different DNA?" he shrugged.

"They're human, Sam."

"Yes, they are. But so are werewolves most of the time and who knows how many people we killed because they had a demon inside of them? Nadia killed different kinds of monsters. She killed people full of all different kinds of demons. Where do you draw the line, Dean? What makes it okay to kill for the greater good? Genetics? Where they fall on the food chain?" Sam could see that his words were worming their way into Dean's mind. How could he really be disgusted by what Nadia was doing when he'd been raised to do the same thing? "Hitler was human. If you could have killed him just after everything started; are you telling me you wouldn't do it because he wasn't something supernatural?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

This time, Aidan wasn't going to waste anytime getting the information she needed. Nadia had let her take over as soon as they reached the prison's parking lot and she was going to prove how useful she could be. The next time she wanted to stretch her figurative legs, Nadia wouldn't have any reason not to let her. The lot was filled with the cars of employees and visitors. The visitor's section was monitored by cameras, so Aidan pulled into the first spot she could find in the employees' designated area. The plan was simple: "talk" someone into letting her in, showing her around, answering a few basic questions about where the deathrow inmates were and how they were served, slip in alittle chopped up hemlock root into the first deathrow cooking pot she could find, and leave without a trace. Well, it seemed simple at least.

She shifted the car into park and turned off the ignition, "Okay, the moment of truth." She check her pocket for the triple-bagged bindle of chopped up root and glanced in the mirror to watch herself change appearance. She had been debating all day about wether it would be better to change into a man or an attractive young woman who worked for the health department. A man might make the other officers feel more at ease about the whole situation; but a woman could use all her charms to her advantage. Nadia brought up things like; her walk and mannerisms that would have to be carefully kept in check if she appeared as a man, so she settle on a leggy blonde in a boring, but flatering state uniform.

A deep breath later, she was walking upto the prison with a clip board in hand and a critical but nervous eye. Hopefully whoever she met would feel protective of her and would let their guard down easier. She had learned the people who are suspicious of you are much harder to control than those who aren't. Dr. Chance--even though Aidan acted like it--wasn't as much of a walk in the park as she'd let Nadia believe. That old gal was stubborn; okay so she wasn't that old, but still...

The man at the entrance wasn't very big and he definitely wasn't very cute; all the better. You see, guys who fall anywhere less than about a seven, maybe an eight; are pretty much putty in the hands of a girl who ranks a solid nine or ten. If she knows how to work them, that is. Luckily Aidan was a master manipulator. She might not even have to do much mind control for awhile. "Hi, I'm Grace Klien from the health department. I'm supposed to check the kithen standards today..." She held up Nadia's driver's license which, to him, looked like a very legit State Health Inspector id card and smiled brilliantly. She grinned a bit at her name choice, Grace. "_Cute,"_ Nadia said dryly. Aidan ignored her.

"Um..." he looked very nervous as he glanced over the papers that littered the desk in front of him. "I'm sorry, I don't remember being told you were coming," he nervously scratched the back of his head.

Aidan sighed dramatically, "Not again." She pretended to write something on her clipboard and mumbled to herself, just loud enough for him to hear, "This prison, I swear..."

He stood up from his stool suddenly, "No problem," he tried to smile reassuringly. "Let me just, uh, get someone to take over for alittle while..." he grabbed his radio and started talking urgently to someone on the other end. Aidan glanced around nonchalantly while she waited.

_"Aren't you always the one pushing me to use my abilities to get things done faster and easier? So, what's taking so long? Just use your little brainless thingy and get to the kitchen," _Nadia snapped.

_Cool it, already. There are cameras on me here, so it would look better if he,_ Aidan glanced at the officer still on his radio, _didn't look like a zombie for the cameras; don't you think?_

_"There are going to be cameras all over. He's going to look zombie-fied for one eventually."_

Aidan grinned faintly so that she wouldn't look strange to the officer, _then they'll just think that he's at a lose for words because of my feminine charms._

Nadia rolled her eyes, _"I think you just want to see how well you can do Winchester style."_

_Please,_ she huffed, _why would I try anything so rediculous?_

_"Because, you're impressed by how well they do without all the bonuses that we have. Admit it."_

_Please. _

The officer put his radio down and Aidan turned to see how progress was coming. "It'll be just a moment," he glanced down at her chest but tried to make it look like he was meerly looking down at his paper and they just happend to be on the way. He licked his lips and fidgeted nervously with his hands before grabbing his keys and looking around to see if there was anything he'd forgotten. Once he seemed satisfied that he had everything, he opened the door and came to stand beside her. "So, health department huh?"

It was all Aidan could do, not to rolled her eyes. _Brilliant, buddy. You have me all hot and bothered now for sure... _"Yup."

"You're much younger and...then the other's. They're all middle-aged and always look so angry all the time," he smirked.

She laughed, "Well, um... Thank you," she smiled. "I'm actually in school for criminal justice, this is a part-time thing. No one really wanted this gig and I thought it would be a great opportuinty to see the inner workings of a prison, so..." she shrugged.

He looked impressed, "What are you looking to get into?"

_The kitchen. _"The psychological part of it," she smirked to herself.

"Well, there are a lot of people here who could use that. It's dangerous, though," he felt he needed to point out.

Aidan smiled, "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

He watched her and something in his eyes suddenly changed and he looked away, "I'm sure you can," he said softly. The unease that had been disappearing, seemed to come back with a vengence. He glanced around like his relief couldn't get there fast enough. Aidan studied him in confusion and Nadia asked, _"What the frick was that?"_

_I don't know..._

Just then, another guard who looked annoyed and bored, came around the corner. When his eyes fell upon Aidan, or Grace, he suddenly grew more alert and quickened his pace. He smiled and nodded at the officer beside her, "John," and then stuck his hand out for Aidan to shake.

"Rich," the officer replied, slightly annoyed. "This is Grace Klien from the health department."

"Oh, well nice to meet you," Rich smiled. "Where do we need to go to first?" his brows rose expectantly.

Aidan would have been game to trade John, for Rich; but that change in his demeanor made her uneasy. "Actually, I'd prefer to stick with, John." That way, she could keep an eye on him so he didn't go calling in his suspicions, if that was what had happened.

Rich's smile slowly melted off his face and he blinked as if he couldn't comprehend what he'd just heard. "Well, I can take care of you in anyway you might need." The double meaning of his words was obvious and Aidan fought not to gag. She really didn't like this guy. "John here," he placed a condecending hand on John's shoulder, "pretty much stays here all the time. He doesn't have as much experience as I do," he grinned.

John was staring at the ground and Aidan could tell that he was yelling all the things he would love to tell Rich, in his head. Aidan felt alittle sorry for him; but mostly she just wanted to knock Rich down a few hundred pegs, "Thanks anyway," she smiled and turned to John. "Ready?"

John glanced from her to Rich and back as if to make sure that he'd heard right. Whatever unease he'd felt a minute ago, was replaced by the high that came wtih having been chosen by a beautiful woman, over his arrogant and condecending--and better looking--coworker. "Of course," he swept his arm out and let her set off ahead of him. She smiled and started off in the way he'd indicated and he glanced at Rich with you-better-believe-it-smirk.

After a few minutes of walking, Aidan broke the silence, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked in confusion and a bit of panic.

"I'm sorry that you have to work with him. He's disgusting," she sneered.

He laughed with relief. He'd been afraid she was going to say something about having made the wrong choice. "Thanks."

She shrugged and glanced down at her clipboard, "I just need to see the kitchen this time." She was about to offer a lie about why; but then she remembered that one of the keys to lying was to never offer up too much information up front.

"Don't you guys usually spend like hours here checking every nook and cranny?" he watched her as he walked.

She looked over at him, "Yeah," she looked annoyed with the system in general, "but I guess there is some can goods that have been found at some of the other prisons and they may have been contaminated, so..." she shrugged. Lying tip number two; have details ready but not too many or your lie will sound rehearsed.

"Oh," he believed her. "Prisoners getting sick, no big lose if you ask me."

Aidan laughed, "You obviously haven't dealt with too many sick men... They're babies, trust me. Offense intended," she smirked.

He laughed but nodded, "And we'd have to be their mothers... You know what? On second thought, let's get those cans out of there."

She laughed, "I figured you'd say that."

The kitchen was huge. There was metal everywhere; shelves, pots and pans, stoves, and giant kettles. Aidan glanced around and found a few prisoners chopping and doing other prep work before lunch time started. John led her to the pantry where all the canned goods were and she pretended to seriously search for the contaminated goods on her list. Meanwhile, she made small talk, "So, how many prisoners do you guys have here?" she glanced at him with a look of innocent curiosity, just in time to catch him staring at her butt. She pretended she didn't notice and he pretend he hadn't done it.

"Uh..." he cleared his throat, "I'm not sure exactly. A lot."

She chuckled. She picked up a can of peas and studied it, "I'm in a Psychology of Death class right now and, with the criminal justice classes, I always try to find some over lap when I write my papers," she glanced up at him and put the can back on the shelf. "I did this one about deathrow inmates and the psychological aspects of having the...opportunity--for lack of a better word--of knowing how and when they're gonna die... It's pretty fasinating." She was perfectly acting as though she was just meerly making conversation instead of conducting an interrogation.

_"What is taking so long? Use your hypnosis thingy and get out of there!" _Nadia came forward and snapped. She's been sitting back in the corner of their mind, just observing, but the whole thing was taking too long.

_Cram it! You hardly ever let me see the light of day, so back off! I'm trying to leave this place with only the regular old Florida police investigating instead of Molder and Scully, alright? I'm leaving as many gigantic questions as we did the last time,_ Aidan replied. Nadia huffed and fumed as she backed back into her corner with her arms crossed. _Besides, there are more and more prisoners coming in here, they'd notice something was up with him._

"I'm sure. It's not how people think, you know? The whole "last meal" thing. They don't get to pick _anything_ they want to; there's a budget and most of the time a radius."

Aidan couldn't help but grin. She'd been delicately steering him toward talking about food. Implanting little bits of information into his head; and it was working. "Really? Huh. What about how the movies show deathrow inmates being fed in their cells? You know, their plates being brought to them on carts and dramtically slid into their cells through that little slot? Is that true?" She was kneeling down and looking up at him with innocent cuiosity again.

He was leaning in the door frame, keeping one eye on her and another on the prisoners. He smirked, "Yeah, that's true."

"Really? Huh," she smiled. "Do they like, get different food too? Like, 'you guys are the worst so you get the blandest food?'"

He laughed, "Maybe we should; but no, they get the same stuff as everyone else."

"Huh," she nodded and looked back at the cans in front of her. _Shit. _

_"Crap,"_ she and Nadia thought simultaneously.

The plan just got a lot more complicated. Of course, Adain would be happy just to drop the roots into one of the massive pots that would serve all of the prisoners; but she knew Nadia would never allow that. Now she was going to have to find some way of getting a few pieces of the root into each of the trays of food specifically going to those on deathrow. _Crap._


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Dean was back in the empty building that he'd been in earlier in the day. Someone or something was in the room across the hall; he could here it moving around. Probably, Rebecca, he thought to himself. He crept forward with his gun held high, its pearl handle reassuring against his palm. _Where's Sam?_ He hadn't seen Sam yet; but he figured he could handle a human woman himself. Besides, Sam had a knack for showing up right when Dean needed him. He'd be fine.

He paused at the side of the doorframe, his shoulder pressed lightly against the peeling paint. He took a breath, counting to three in his head, just like always. As soon as the final word was thought, he threw the door open and rushed inside, gun ready. Directly in front of him stood a woman with long dark hair. He scanned the left and right sides of the room, but there was no one else around. She must have heard him but she didn't turn, didn't react at all.

He swallowed and his throat was dry; he usually didn't feel like this. He was made for hunts like these. So why was he so nervous this time? Why did this feel so wrong? She was just a human. Even as he thought the words, flashes of the Benders flooded his head. He shook them away and stepped forward, "Rebecca?"

Finally, the woman turned. It was one of those slow, creepy turns like you see in movies. He leaned back, ready to jump away if need be and watched her turn. It wasn't Rebecca. "Nadia?" he froze in shock.

"Dean," her shoulders dropped in relief and her eyes softened.

"Nadia, what are you-" he glanced around, "what are you doing here?"

"Sam said he told you... About me..."

Dean blinked and lowered the gun. Sam's words flooded over him and his stomach tightened, "Yeah."

Her eyes saddened, "I did it for you. You know that, right? This was all for you," she lifted her arms and everything behind her changed suddenly. One upon the other lay pale bodies; some of them colored sporadically with blood and others wore expressions of horror. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut and raised his hand to his mouth to keep from being sick.

"What did you do?" he whispered.

She smiled, "Silly, I saved you. They're nothing more than quarters and pennies to get the bounty off your head."

"What are you?" he stepped back and lifted his gun again.

"You know what I am, Dean," she sounded condescending. "You love what I am."

"No," he shook his head, "I could never love this."

She stepped forward and reached towards him, "I don't understand. You kill all the time, this is no different."

"I kill monsters. You kill...people."

She narrowed her eyes, "Monsters?" Her eyes dropped to the floor and back to his face again, "I'm one of those monsters now?"

He felt like his heart was being crushed, "You didn't have to be."

She laughed, "God, Dean! Of course I did. I'm half demon! My demon-dearest knocked up my pathetic human-of-a-mother and viola! Meet the love of your life," she spread her arms wide and smiled brightly. "Seriously, did you think you deserve some virginal human? _You?_ Dean, you're as messed up as anyone can be, and you always thought you'd get _normal_?" She stared at his in amusement and threw her head back, "Oh, that's right. You never thought you'd get anyone; so you should be happy that you got a few good times in bed and the back seat with me before all this happened. Now, this is what you're left with. Themi was right when she said I couldn't stay good forever. Boy was she right! You told me what an idiot you were in making that deal and out of, _love_," she said with disgust, "I gave up who I was. I let my true self take over and man does it freeing!" She laughed.

Dean was shaking his head as if he weren't even concious of the movement, "No. This isn't you."

"Wow, you really are as pathetic as everyone says..." she smirked.

He swallowed and hardened his face. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, et secta diabolica."

Nadia winced and gritted her teeth but laughed, "I'm not possessed, Dean. I was born like this!"

He continued through his teeth, "Ergo draco maledicte et sectio. Ergo draco maledicte et legio secta diabolica..."

Nadia grabbed her head and started screaming. "Stop! Stop! It hurts!"

"Ut Ecclésiam tuam secúra tibi fácias servire libertáte, te rogámus, audi nos."

"Please," she was crying now. "Please, Dean, I love you. Why are you hurting me like this? I've done everything for you," she sobbed. "Why isn't it enough?" He ignored the tears running down his cheecks and took a deep breath to steel himself up enough to continue but he wasn't fast enough. "No!" her head snapped up to look his directly in the eye and her's were black. He stumbled back against the wall. "I said, stop!" her hand shot out just like it had at the barn in Montana and he was pressed against the wall, unable to move a finger. She lifted him off the ground and held him there. "Men! They _never_ listen, I swear," she said in exasperation.

"Nadia," he gasped.

"Shut-up," she replied through her teeth and he couldn't talk anymore. "Much better," she sighed. "Now-"

"Nadia!" Sam called from the doorway. He held the colt pointed at her and pulled the trigger. The blackness went out of her eyes when he pulled the trigger and she was once again the girl they'd known. His knees couldn't hold him any longer and he fell to the floor.

Dean tried to call out but she still held him in silence. He watched the bullet hit between her eyes and then she crumpled to the floor and he followed right behind her. His legs couldn't hold him up and he fell hard to the floor. He crawled over to her and stared down at her lifeless face. She wasn't what she'd been; but this loss was too final for him and he leaned forward, his forehead on her chest and broke.

Ten seconds later, her chest rose and she gasped a ragged breath. He jerked back and watched her wake back up. He couldn't move as she wrapped her hand around his and looked at him in surprise.

As soon as she recognized him, her face was terrified. She gripped his hand tight and gasped, "They're coming for us."

Dean woke up in a cold sweat, his heart racing. "Dean?" Sam sat up sleepily. Dean was shaking and looking for something; but he wasn't sure what that something was. Sam finally got a good enough look at his brother to see the panic on his face, "Dean! What is it?" He scrambled out of bed and over to Dean's side, colt in hand.

He said the first thing that came to mind, "Where's your phone? I need your phone!"

"Okay!" Sam grabbed the small black square from his bedside table, "Here. What's wrong?" Dean ignored him scrolled through Sam's contacts and then pressed send. "Dean answer me! What's wrong?"

Dean could remember everything from his dream; but for some reason, all he knew was that, "Nadia's in trouble."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

"John, can you come here for a second? I've run out of hands and these cans are about to rain down everywhere..." Aidan splayed her hands against a tettering stack of tomato sauce and green beans cans.

John hustled over and helped her get them set back upright, "There ya go."

Aidan smiled up at him, "Thanks. And, um, sorry about this; you really do seem like a nice guy." A flash of confusion appeared on his face just before she reached out and touched his arm. She loved that look of confusion that always appeared after she apologized. His gaze glazed over and he crumbled to the floor. She shoved him further into the corner of the large pantry and bent down to erase those last few seconds from his memory. She shoved that little bit of her attention that was keeping him unconscience, to the back of her mind and changed her appearance to match his. She walked out into the kitchen and closed the door behind her.

All the inmates were engossed in their work--a few minutes in the pantry and the lonely female presence inside the prison was; out of sight, out of mind. Aidan reminded herself that she was John, a man, and changed her stance and stride. "Hey," she called to the inmate closest to her, "which one of you takes care of the meals for death row?"

He turned to see who was speaking to him before he decided on how to respond. Aidan scanned the dining hall on the other side of the buffet-style serving counter. Cameras covered the entire hall in their cross-fire, while two more covered both entrances. The inmates reply pulled her focus back, "Martinez has that pleasure..._boss._" He smirked and measured the level of threat she/John entailed and seemed satisfied with John's small stature. _Oh, if you only knew what I could do to you,_ Aidan thought and felt Nadia's annoyance surface briefly. _I know, I know, hurry up,_ she rolled her eyes.

Aidan stared back at the inmate and let alittle bit of her influence seep into him. His smirk slowly melted off his face and he took a step back before recovering himself and going back to work. He continued to glance over his shoulder every few seconds. Aidan couldn't help the smug smirk that formed on her face, "Thanks." She looked passed him at the man he'd indicated as being Martinez. Judging by the back-off aura that he projected, it was obvious he suffered horribly from the Napoleon Complex. At about 5' 5'', Martinez was a showcase of overcompensation. He was covered in tattoos and holes were piercings had once been.

She channeled the male dominence she'd seen on tv countless times and headed straight for him, "How's it going?" His head stayed pointed at the pot in front of him and only his eyes rolled up to look at her. He grunted as a response and went back to stirring his concoction. "Whatcha making?" He pointed at a bag of rice that lay on the counter beside him. She poked the bag, "Real conversationalist, huh?" She said dryly. She sighed and mumbled, "I really don't have time for this." Normally she enjoyed the game that these encounters usually were for her; but she was bored and could feel Nadia getting anxious.

She closed her eyes and concentrated until everything around her fell silent. She sighed, relaxed, and glanced around the kitchen and dining hall. Every person within sight had crumbled to the floor just like John; no touch needed. With a deep breath, she calmed the rush of power that flowed through her; she was getting stronger. She felt Nadia's alarm about the cameras; _relax, we have plenty of time to drop in a few of the roots and boogey before anyone comes a-knocking._ She pushed the bag of rice out of the way and pulled the bag of Hemlock roots out of her pocket. After a quick run over with a knife, the roots were small enough to be thought of as just another ingredient; nothing suspicious about them at all. She swept them off the counter and into her hand and dropped them into the pot with a small splash. She was giving it a quick stir when the static of a radio down the hall caught her attention. Someone was coming.

She hurried back to the pantry and changed back into Grace Klein. She knealt down beside John and let go of the hold she had on him and everyone else. "Are you alright?" she asked John with concern.

"What happened?" he blinked and rubbed his forehead.

"You collapsed," she helped him to his feet. "Are you sure you're okay?" He nodded and glanced around in confusion. "What do you remember?" she asked.

"Uh... I was helping you with the cans that were about to fall and then..." he thought hard.

"Yeah, then you just dropped," her voice dripped with concern and shock.

"Sorry," he looked straight at her for the first time since he'd regained conciousness. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She smiled reassuringly, "Let's just get you to the infermery." She wrapped a arm around his waist and helped him out into the kitchen where confusion filled the air. Everyone was looking around at everyone else, trying to figure out what happened. _I've got to learn to think these things through before I do them_, she thought to herself. She closed her eyes again and sent out a wave of energy and when she opened them again, everyone was back to completing their tasks like nothing had happened; because, for them, nothing had happened. The last two minutes of their lives had disappeared and none of them would ever notice.

_"Except the fact that it is forever captured on film..."_ Nadia replied nastily.

Aidan rolled her eyes, "Child's play," she mumbled_._

"What was that?" John asked at the doorway.

"Which way?"

He pointed to the right, "You know what, let me just get another guard down here and escort you out--if you're finished, of course..."

She smiled with relief but tried not to show it; she needed to get out of there, "Oh, yes I'm finished." She hoped he didn't notice that she wasn't removing any contaminated cans, "Are you sure you can manage?"

He laughed, "Of course. It was nice to meet you, Ms. Klein," he reached out his hand and shook hers. He asked for someone to meet them over his radio and they waited until Rich showed up. John mumbled, "Sorry," under his breath.

Aidan chuckled, "Thanks. Feel better." Rich came up to her side with a big grin. Obviously he thought this was his second chance to prove to her that they were meant to be together--at least for a night. She didn't waste any time, as soon as John was out of hearing distance, she turned Rich from a horny, arrogant guy to a mute. He walked beside her in silence and she grinned smugly. _See, the easy way can be just as enjoyable as doing it on your own, magic-free. _She turned and asked him, "Where do you keep the video stored?" She nodded to the nearest camera in the least obvious way she could and made him give up the answer.

"In there," he nodded to the room they were just about to pass. The door was locked with a heavy padlock and she was within sight of two different cameras.

She thought quickly through her options before stopping and squatting down to fix her shoe, "My straps come loose..." Rich was quiet again as he stood behind her. She fidgeted with the strap for awhile until he looked down the hall. As fast as she could, she touched a finger to the floor and stood back up. "All set," she heard the whoosh of flames consuming everything in the room, coming from the other side of the door. She walked back to the front enterance with Rich and said a quick goodbye before hurrying out to the car. As soon as she was behind the steering wheel and backing out of her parking space, she released him.

"And now we wait," she sighed. Before she could stop her, Aidan felt Nadia grab hold and yank her back into their mind and out of control of their body. _"Bitch."_

Nadia smiled smugly. "Yes, we wait just long enough to confirm that the roots worked-"

_"And so that we know exactly how many to cross off our quota,"_ Aidan interrupted, still grumpy about being expelled so rudely.

"Yes, that too." She thought about the agreement she'd made; they had 323 souls left to collect after San Quinten and those two rapists from the alley. She still wasn't sure how many people Florida State Prison had on death row; the websites she'd checked contradicted each other. This collection could bring the end of her deal within striking distance or it could just make a dent. She'd never before hoped that she'd poisoned alot of people; it wasn't a pleasant desire.

Aidan was rolling her eyes at Nadia's guilt. Nadia stopped at a red light and waited while she continued to calculate in her head. An odd feeling of dread and fear flooded through her and even Aidan froze. It was hard to breath, like the feeling had manifested and was wound around her chest like a python. She glanced in her mirrors and looked around frantically; she could feel something cold and hateful just out of reach and sight. The light turned green and she slammed on the gas petal in a way that put any drag racer to shame. She was shaking and near tears in terror.

_"What the hell was that?"_ Aidan asked in shock herself.

"I don't know," she whispered and sped back to the hotel using every ability she had to avoid every light, cop, and accident along the way. Using her abilities so much made her feel more grounded. She was a force to be wreckoned with; what could have possibly made her that terrified? The fear she'd felt was unexplainable. There was no obvious cause for the panic she'd felt in that split second. _So what the hell was it?_

She didn't waste any time running up to her room, locking the door with its flimsy little chain, and pulling the curtains closed. She'd just gotten all of her things in her bags when her phone rang. She jumped back and the corner of the table jammed into her back, "Good lord!" She took a deep breath and looked at the screen, _Sam._ "Sam?" she asked cautiously, ready to dump the phone and run out the door if need be. After what had just happened, she wouldn't of found it hard to believe that whatever _it_ was, could've gotten to Sam and Dean.

"Nadia!"

"Dean?" Even being as scared as she was, her stomach still clenched in surprise and joy.

"Where are you?" he asked frantically.

"Uh... I can't tell you. Are you okay?"

He growled with frustration, "I'm fine, are you?"

She wasn't sure how to answer, so she took a deep breath and said the first thing that came to mind. "Something's...wrong."

The line was silent for a long time. "You need to get here. We're in Colorado, or I'll come to you..."

Nadia knew she should be opposed to this, but what she'd felt today had shaken her to the core. She needed their help; Aidan wasn't even argueing that. "I'm leaving right now. I'll take the first flight out, I promise."

"Where are you?" he demanded.

She bite her lip, "Florida."

He groaned. "Nadia..." she heard the familiar edge of worry in his voice.

"I'm on my way," she promised. She quickly checked her computer for flights to Colorado, "There's one that leaves in an hour. I'll be in Denver by 1:38."

"I'll be there."

"Thanks..." She wanted to add 'for caring' but things were still weird between them. One random, worried phone call didn't change anything. "See you soon."

"Be careful," he warned and they both hung up. Nadia shoved her computer into her bag and quickly double checked to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything and then hurried down to the check out counter. As she fidgeted and waited for the concierge to give her the okay to head out, she glanced around and saw a tv to her right. The news was on. "A visit earlier by the health department to investigate a shipment of canned goods, has lead investigators to believe that the visit may have come too late. Forty-eight prisoners died at the prison just a few minutes ago, along with two inmates who worked in the cafeteria and a guard who had tasted some of the contaminated food. The prison has sent samples of all of the food that was prepared today to be tested as soon as possible. These deaths have forced all of the prisons in Northern Florida to dispose of all of the food they have in stock. The governor has released a statement saying: 'The public should not be alarmed; the state's prisons recieve all of their food and beverage products from a private supplier. No one in the general public needs to worry about their own safety when it comes to contaminated goods in their home.' We will keep you up to date with the story as more information is gathered."

"It's gonna cause a state-wide panic no matter how many assurances the governor releases." The concierge slid Nadia's reciept onto the counter and held out a pen for her to use. She was still dumbstruck by what she'd heard and it took her a minute to realize what she needed to do. "Pretty crazy, huh? But I heard that most of the prisoners were on death row already anyway." He chuckled softly, "Saves us tax payers a few bucks."

Nadia stared back at him, shocked that he could be so cavelier about the deaths of 50 people. It was ironic. Here she was, half demon, and she could hardly think straight and someone completely uninvolved and with a clear conscience shrugged the whole thing off as just a money-saving fluke. "Yeah, crazy." She signed the paper and stuffed her copy into her pocket and left. All she could think about was the newswoman's words, "...and a guard..." First a hunter, now a guard; one thing was for sure; they were never using poison again.

Nadia was slowly realizing the perks of being what she was. She'd always avoided using her abilities as much as she could because she didn't want to think of herself as using short cuts. Her entire life, she'd trained herself and been trained to protect herself with her own to hands; to use her brain. Using her abilities made her feel...lazy. She was also willing to admit that she wanted to feel like she could hold her own around Sam and Dean without the supernatural backing that came with her genetics. But as she hurried to catch her flight, she was growing more and more fond of her special abilites. Everyone in line for tickets and baggage check-in were extremely kind and let her jump to the head of the line and even airport security let her through in record time.

In an effort not to be put beside another Lars Ulrich wanna-be, she asked for a seat in the emptiest section of the plane; first class. She ran to the gate, thankful that she didn't have to wait at all for the flight, and dropped into her seat. She grabbed her phone before the flight attendant came around snapping at her and texted Dean: On the plane now. Let u know when we r almost there. She immediately got a reply: Will be there.

She smiled, sighed, and shoved her earbuds in her ears. As she anxiously watched the flight attendants pace up and down the aisles, she considered making the pilot just get the plane in the air; but figured that was pushing it alittle too far. Metallica's "The Thing that Should Not Be" filled her ears and she tried to keep the anxiety and excitment about what lay ahead out of her mind.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Nadia swung her backpack onto her shoulder and turned on her cell phone. Pulling up recent calls, she found Sam's number and hit send. Dean answered before the first ring could even end, "Where are you?"

She couldn't help but smile, "I just got off... Gate 5, where are you?"

"The south entrance..." He sounded like he was walking as fast as he could. She could hear Sam telling him to relax in the background and she smiled bigger and glanced around to try and get a sense of direction.

_Stop. _Aidan had been quiet for the entire plane ride. It was beginning to feel like before she had come along; peaceful. No killing or deals with demons, just sleeping in late and lying next to Dean. _Oh, fantastic. Here we go again with all this lovey-dovey crap. Just pause for a sec. I think we can find him faster..._

_"How?"_

_Just stop and close your eyes. _

Nadia did what Aidan told her to do and sighed, _"Now what?"_

_Focus on Dean._

Nadia wanted to tell Aidan to stop messing around, that she was wasting time; but the fact was, Aidan knew things that she didn't. She stood in the middle of people frantic to catch their planes and thought about Dean. She thought about that arrogant smirk she was so unable to resist and of how badly she wanted to feel his touch again... Aidan made gagging motions deep in the back of their mind but soon Nadia felt a need to move forward. Her eyes snapped open and she hurried forward. When she reached the middle of the airport, she turned left without a second thought and pushed through a set of doors. She turned left again but it felt wrong so she turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

She pushed her way through the end of the security line and spotted Sam's formidable figure walking towards her. She immediately looked beside him and saw Dean. In that moment, she felt like she had been holding her breath but was finally able to let it go. Her legs forgot how to work for a minute and she just stood there smiling at him. About 30 seconds passed before she realized that he wasn't smiling.

The smile slowly melted off her face. She glanced at Sam, who had his hands shoved deep into his pockets; he reeked of guilt. He looked back at her with those sad, puppy dog eyes of his and mouthed "I'm sorry." Those words felt like a knife in her stomach. Tears filled her eyes as she looked back at Dean and all she could say was, "You know."

"Yeah." Different emotions flickered over his face; anger and hurt, but mostly guilt. One thing she didn't see though, was disgust and that gave her hope. That and the fact that he'd worried enough to call her and want her with him. He blinked and turned to leave without another word.

Sam watched him walk away and then came over and took her bag. "Sorry."

She looked at him and tried to smile, "It's okay. I understand. I guess I was just hoping for alittle bit of a happy reunion..."

Sam squeezed her shoulders and they followed Dean. "Just give him time. He'll come around. He cares too much about you not to."

She sighed and reached up to put her hand on his shoulder, "You'd better be right." He laughed and shook his head.

Nadia couldn't help but smile when she saw the impala. "Look'in good," she ran a hand over the curve of the back window. Dean glanced over at her hand and down to where he was unlocking the door, but now before she saw the smirk in his eyes. When she looked over at Sam, she saw the he'd seen it too and she smiled brightly. As she slid into the backseat and felt the familiar texture of the leather, flashes of that night there with Dean, made her blush. She cleared her throat and caught Dean watching her in the rear view mirror. He blinked and looked out the windshield while he started the car. She sighed with a tinged of longing at the sound of the engine turning over. _I miss my baby._ In her mind she could picture the glossy black '69 mustang parked back in the barn at home, where it was hopefully covered and locked away.

The ride was deadly silent to anyone other than Nadia. In her head, Aidan's voice was incessant. She mocked Nadia's sadness at Dean's distance and rolled her eyes at the obvious guilt Sam felt for how his brother was acting. _"Just use your mojo and he'll forget why he was ever acting so stupid and pathetic,"_ Aidan said yet again. Nadia tried to block her out but it was obvious right away that that feat was hopeless. _"All the work and training we've been doing these past few weeks and all you're going to do is sit here and sulk?"_

_I am not going to use that on him ever again! Get that through your thick skull!_

_"My skull is the same thickness as yours,"_ she pointed out. _"Never again?"_

_Never._

_"What if the world is coming to an end and the only way to save him or it, is to...make him do something? Or not do something? Or forget something?"_

Nadia rolled her eyes and glared out the side window. _If his life or the world depends on it, than of course; but I won't do it just to make myself feel better._

_"You know, you make no sense whatsoever. You'll use your abilities to kill 1,000 people for him; but god forbid you use them to get what you want most."_

_That is where you being a demon and me being a human comes in. I know that manipulating someone I love into doing something for selfish reasons is wrong. Beyond wrong. And as far as the whole killing thing goes, they were as good as dead before I got there. So just shut up and get over it! I do not need to be psychoanalyzed by the demon inside me._

Aidan laughed and Nadia couldn't help but smirk alittle at the thought of explaining to a shrink that she already knows what's wrong with her because the demonic voice she hears in her head gave her a very accurate and in-depth analysis. _"I'd love to see their face when you told them that. As much as it makes me sick to say it, he loves you and you love him; so why won't you just let yourselves be happy?"_

Nadia was getting angry. Not just because Aidan wouldn't shut up, but because she was starting to see the logic in Aidan's words. Why couldn't she be happy? In the amount of time it took to take a breath, Dean would look at her like he had before. She could have what she wanted most in the entire world; but what would the cost be of getting what you want at the expense of another's free will?

Aidan was still questioning and taunting in the background and Nadia snapped. She'd had enough. If she didn't stop her soon, the tempation would be too great to deny. "Just shut up!" She closed her eyes and yelled. The car swerved and Sam spun around looked at her in shock. Dean slammed on the brakes and pulled off the road, "What the hell?"

Nadia winced and tried to make herself absorb into the backseat. She pressed her lips together and looked apologetic. Meanwhile, Aidan had her arms wrapped around her stomach and was rolling on the floor, laughing in the little room in her head. _"I don't care how many times you do that, it's still funny as hell! Their faces were priceless!"_

Nadia glared at the floor and directed as much anger as she could internally to Aidan, who flinched and stopped laughing. "Nadia?" Sam asked carefully. "Are you alright?" He glanced worriedly at Dean who, she was pleased to see, looked even more worried. But it wasn't her they were worried about; that much she knew. They were worried about her sanity.

She swallowed and tried to look sane--_how do you look sane?_ "I'm fine. I'm good, really."

"Who were you yelling at then?"

"Ummm... Myself." It sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Yourself?"

"Yeah..." She glanced at Sam and then Dean, where she stayed for a few beats and then looked down at her hands. "Guess I might as well tell you everything, huh?" She tried to smile when she looked up at Sam.

Dean leaned forward and, somewhere between a growl and a plee, asked, "There's more?"

"It's not about your deal," she told him. She didn't want him to feel anymore guilty than he already did. She paused and arranged her thoughts, "So, you know how I'm half demon and everything?"

Dean snorted and Sam shot him a glare. "I think what Dean was trying to say was, how could we forget?"

"Right. Uh..." She tried to find away to make it all make sense and not sound as bad as it could; but her shoulders dropped when she realized how impossible that was. "Okay so, I'm just going to try and explain the best I can. This is going to sound crazy; but please let me finish before you ask anything." She looked from one brother to the other, lingering on Dean's face until he blinked and looked down. She took a deep breath and began. "The half demon part of me has become...semi-physically manifested with in me. Her name is Aidan and she talks to me. Inside my head. But sometimes I let her come out and then I get shoved back inside. It's like I'm a car and I am usually the one driving but sometimes I get into the backseat and let her take the wheel. She's strong and stubborn and annoying, but she knows a lot of things that I don't." She lost her momentum by the end of her story and waited to be bombarded with questions and accusations. She couldn't bring herself to look at Dean, so she focused on Sam instead.

He stared at her and she knew that he was running through what she'd told him in her head again and trying to understand it all. Finally he asked, "Aidan?"

She sighed and smiled faintly. "Maybe a demonstration would help?"

Sam started to say something but Dean almost yelled, "Hell no! You want to let that thing take you over? Are you an idiot?"

"Dean, she obviously knows what she's doing," Sam tried to calm his brother.

"Bullshit, Sammy." He looked back at Nadia, "You are _not_ going to just relinquish yourself over to that thing."

She stared back him, her face neutral and tired. "I am."

"No you're not!"

"Dean, this isn't some case of smoke getting crammed down my throat. This is who I am, what I am. She's been a part of me since birth."

He leaned over the seat and grabbed her shoulders. "You don't know what that thing could do to you!"

She winced at the pain where his fingers were digging into her skin. "Yes, Dean, I do. This is not my first time. She can't stay out too long, I won't let her. I'm still stronger than she is. Just--just trust me."

The anger melted from his eyes and was replaced with disbelief and pleading. "You've done it before?" His grip loosened and she didn't think he was even aware that he was still touching her anymore.

"Yes. In San Quentin and Florida State Prison..." her voice was small.

"She killed those people," Sam whispered.

She looked at him, "Yes." Her gaze moved back to Dean, "I couldn't do it myself." She relaxed and closed her eyes and let Aidan take over after a few words of warning. _Behave yourself. Touch either of them and you'll be gone so fast you won't know what hit you. And do not lie. I know when you lie._

_"Yeah, yeah. I know; no fun whatsoever."_

Dean watched Nadia's body go limp for a heartbeat. He gripped her tighter and was about to look over at Sam for help, when tension filled her muscles again. He watched her face closely and when she opened her eyes, he could tell she was no longer there. Her warm, haunting green eyes were dull and cold. She smirked, "Hello boys." He kept staring at her, dumbfounded. He hadn't really believed that Aidan could really be so different than Nadia. He'd thought she'd been lying when she said that she hadn't been the one to kill all those people. He thought she'd been trying to make herself feel better. But he was wrong, this was not Nadia at _all_.

She cleared her throat and look at him expectantly. "I know your libido's been going nuts since you saw her; but could you wait until she's back before you get all handsy?" She raised her brows and then twisted her mouth in annoyance. She sighed, "Don't say I didn't ask nicely first..." She didn't seem to really be talking to him as she spoke. As he tried to pull himself back together, he felt Sam touch his arm and say something about letting go but he couldn't make himself do it. Sam grabbed his elbow and pulled and as he did so, heat started to form under Dean's hands. At first it was enjoyable; like the warmth of a fire on numb fingers, just before the ache of returning feeling. But the heat increased slowly until he couldn't stand it anymore and jerked away. "Thank you," she said and brushed off her shoulders like he'd left lint behind. He blinked several times and looked at his hands. They weren't red or blistered, in fact there was no evidence at all of what he'd felt.

"It wasn't real. It was all in your head," she sounded bored. "She might refuse to mess with what little you have left; but I'm don't."

"You're really not her. At all..." Sam said in awe.

She looked at him for the first time. "Only on the outside." She looked back at Dean and her eyes softened. "You feel what she feels, don't you?"

She glanced at him in surprise and fidgeted uncomfortably, "Unfortunately."

"So you won't hurt us?"

She sighed, "No. It would literally _kill_ me to do so." She didn't look happy at that little admittance.

Dean was finally able to speak, "So what are you then?"

She looked at him with something close to pity, "A demon." She paused for a beat, "A demon with a conscience."

"A conscience?"

"Yes." She looked at Sam, "As you said, I feel what she feels. I, therefore, have all of the things that make you humans weak." Sam looked confused, so she clarified. "Love," she said with distaste, "trust, loyalty..."

"Those don't make us weak," Dean said through his teeth.

She watched him for a long time before she responded softly with, "I think your dad would disagree." His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. She felt a warning from Nadia and tried to redeem herself. "But, I can agree with your assessment. Nadia is more than I can handle when it comes to you," he stared intently at Dean until he dropped his gaze.

"So she really is stronger than you?" Sam asked.

She laughed tiredly, "I wouldn't be here if she wasn't."

"But that's just temporary, right?" Dean asked.

She watched him again with an odd and meaningful look, "That isn't up to me." She watched him for a bit longer and then she fell away and Nadia came back with a look of surprise. It was obvious that she hadn't been the one to initiate the switch.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

_What was that all about?_ Nadia asked, still taken aback by Aidan's reaction to Dean.

_"How many times do I have to tell you? I feel what you feel. Hell, even Sam noticed the weakness I feel towards Dean."_

_You love him too?_

_"Of course not! But I do feel a...fondness towards him. Because of how strong your feelings are, I can't help but be affected by them."_

_Oh,_ was all Nadia could think to say. She wasn't sure how she felt about someone else caring about Dean the way she did; even if it was still, fundamentally, her.

"Nadia?" Sam asked cautiously.

Dean shot him an annoyed look. "Of course it's her, you idiot. Can't you tell?"

Sam looked confused, "She looks exactly the same to me."

Dean was confused and uncomfortable with the realization that he was the only one who could see the difference in her. He brushed it off, "Are you okay?"

She looked slightly annoyed, "I told you I'd be fine and I'm fine. It doesn't hurt, it's just...odd."

"Could you hear us talking to her?"

"Of course. I can still see and hear everything," she looked at him like he was talking crazy.

"So, what is she?" Sam asked.

"Like she said, she's a demon with a conscience. Only for her, she's half conscience where I'm half demon." Sam leaned back with what appeared to be relief. "She won't lie to you," she glanced back and forth between the two brothers. "I know when she's lying. She wouldn't get away with it. Not as long as I'm here."

"Yeah? And how long's that gonna be?" Dean asked bitterly.

She looked unwaveringly back at him, a mixture of anger and sadness on her face. "If it's up to me? For the rest of my life. Otherwise? Well, I guess that's up to you."

The arrogant look melted off Dean's face and he looked away. Sam glanced back and forth between them, growing more and more uncomfortable and desperate for a change of subject. "You obviously didn't kick her out, so why'd she take off so fast?"

She glanced at Sam and then looked pointedly at Dean, "Because my feelings for you made her uncomfortable." The car lapsed back into an awkward silence until Dean turned the ignition and pulled back onto the road.

_"Was that really necessary?"_ Aidan growled.

Nadia crossed her arms and slouched in the seat, looking out the window. "You can be angry and bitter all you want but your not gonna make it seem like it was easy for me to leave. I made that deal for the same reason you made yours," she told Dean without taking her eyes from the scenery flying by.

Nadia stayed with Sam and Dean in the same room they'd been at for the last couple weeks and they immediately started comparing notes. Nadia told them about the sickening and frightening presence she'd felt on the road in Florida and Dean talked reluctantly about his dream. "They're coming for us?" Sam hadn't heard any of what had scared Dean so badly that he'd called Nadia; but now he understood. "Who?"

"If I knew, do you really think I'd be sitting in a hotel room twittling my thumbs?" Dean snapped.

Nadia reached out to touch his arm to calm him but stopped herself and dropped her hand in her lap. "Do you think they're connected?"

Sam shrugged one shoulder and looked from Nadia to Dean. "All I know," Dean said, "is that the look on your face when you just told us about Florida, is pretty damn close to the look I saw in my dream. You were terrified." It wasn't an apology for the way he'd acted in the car, but it was close. He wasn't looking at her like she'd betrayed him; he just looked sad, like he'd lost something. That was almost worse.

Sam was sitting in a chair across from Nadia and Dean who were sitting far apart on the bed. Nadia looked at Dean, "It felt like whatever this thing is...it can get me anywhere." Dean reached out automatically to pull her close but changed to a pat on the back instead.

Sam looked annoyed and tried to change the subject. "Well, we still have a killer to catch before tomorrow..."

"Oh yeah. Do you know who it is yet?" Nadia glanced from Dean to Sam.

"The wife." She nodded. "What we don't know is why."

Nadia looked confused, "Wasn't her husband killed? Sounds like reason enough right there."

"Yeah," Sam tipped his head from side to side like he didn't believe it. "Something else must have happened to make her snap. I mean he was in a comma for two weeks. One that he wasn't about to come out of; so why didn't she start killing sooner?"

"Hope?"

Dean shook his head. "If she knew he was going to die, which is what the doctors kept telling her was guaranteed; then she would have wanted revenge right away."

"People who are in situations like that tend to hold onto hope for a long time." Nadia argued. "Besides, the smart thing to do would be to wait until he actually is dead, before she started risking going to prison for the rest of her life. I mean, what if some miracle happened and he woke up?" She looked down at her hands as she picked at her fingers, "She still wouldn't have been able to be with him," she added softly.

"Yeah, well not everyone thinks through things like that so thoroughly," Dean replied surly.

Dean's attitude was starting to wear on Nadia. It was amazing how fast things could change from wanting to comfort him, to wanting to smack him upside the back of the head. "What did you find at her house?" She turned pointedly to Sam, ignoring Dean.

"Nothing, really. She had one picture of Emmett on her nightstand but that's about it." Sam replied.

"No, she had a whole room full of his things and baby stuff. It looked like it was going to be a nursery before all this happened," Dean added.

"Is she pregnant?" She grimaced at the picture she formed in her head; a pregnant woman slitting people's throats.

Sam and Dean both shook their head and Sam added, "Not that we could see." Nadia's eye squinted as she looked to her left. "Oh, I know that look," Sam smirked. "You're on to something..."

"Maybe... Did she ever give birth?"

Sam looked at Dean, who shook his head. "Nope."

"Where's your phone?" she asked Sam.

He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Why? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that she had a miscarriage...and it pushed her over the edge." She opened his phone and then realized that she had no repertoire with anyone at the hospital and handed it back. "Call the hospital and see."

Sam glanced at Dean who was looking at Nadia with that same dumb look of awe he used to watch her with; but before she could see it, he turned away. Sam rolled his eyes and dialed. Nadia couldn't sit still any longer, so she walked out into the hall and headed outside.

The door opened behind her almost as soon as she'd closed it, "What are you doing? There is something after you," Dean growled. "Are you stupid?"

Nadia spun around. "Stop calling me stupid," she said icily and continued down the hall. He followed without another word. Once they were outside, she walked across the parking lot and sat at a picnic table. He hovered, unwilling to sit down near her. "Why are you even out here? You could have called and had Sam come talk to me."

He didn't answer but did stubbornly sit down across from her. After five minutes of silence, he asked, "Is she in there right now?"

She stopped doodling with her finger on the table like she had been and looked up at him. "Yes. She always is, Dean, and always will be. So get used to it." She brought her glare back to the table top.

He watched her stare intently at the peeling paint on the table. She was even more beautiful than the first time he'd seen her, but something about that scared him. Her hair was still long and shiny and he was nearly overwhelmed with the urge to feel it between his fingers again. When Aidan wasn't taking the controls, her eyes were still that amazing, haunting green he couldn't get out of his head. She licked her lips distractedly and he couldn't stop staring at them. Each feature he saw looked the same but simultaneously different. She looked...more powerful, more appealing, and more dangerous. Maybe it was just in his head, he thought to himself. He knew she was different, knew what she was capable of, so maybe he made himself see what wasn't actually there. Maybe he made himself see her differently because he couldn't bear the thought of her killing all those men and still being her.

It took him awhile to realize that she'd shifted her focus to him. "I missed you," she said softly.

He blinked and looked away, standing up, he said, "We should go back. See what Sam found out."

He started to stand and she suddenly couldn't handle all the anger she'd been burying. She stood, "What do you want from me?" she said through clenched teeth. He stopped and stared down at the table beneath his hands. "Do you want me to say I'm sorry? I'm sorry, Dean. Do you want me to tell you that walking away that day was the hardest thing I've ever had to do? Well, it wasn't. It was the second hardest thing I've ever done in my life. The first..." her eyes started to sting, "was letting Aidan kill those people." She paused to let him absorb her words. "But I did it. I made that deal and I have done everything I could to keep _myself_ while doing it. If those; murderers and rapists and child molesters lives are what I had to pay to keep _you _alive... Then that's what I'll do, time and time again."

His head snapped up. "They were people!"

"The things you kill, how many victims did they take? One? Five? Twenty?" She searched his eyes, "I did my research, Dean. Those 675 _inmates_ at San Quentin killed over 1,500 people. That's just the trail of dead bodies they left behind them, not counting those whose lives they ruined. Their other victims still have to deal with what happened to them everyday. Your victims, they leave behind people who know that what took the people they love from them is something that they could never have seen coming. Could never have protected them from. But those left behind by those prisoners, they know that they lost them to a human being. Not something supernatural or unstoppable. Something that can only be killed with silver or deterred with salt; they live everyday thinking that they weren't good enough. That their husbands, wives, children, are dead because they couldn't protect them from someone just like them. So you tell me, what classifies someone as a person? And how far do they have to go before they become a monster?" She stared hard at him, "I'm not telling you that what Aidan and I did was right or good or easy; I'm telling you that what we did was as just as any killing can be."

He tried to hold onto as much anger as he could but most of it was gone. Sam was right, she was good at the important speeches. "So having someone you love killed by a ghost or a demon or a werewolf is better?"

"No! But it is easier. Say for example, your mother is murdered..." She realized too late that her hypothetical situation was all too true for them both, but pressed on anyway. "You're automatically-as a normal, completely in the dark about what is really out there, person-going to assume the killer is human and you're gonna start blaming yourself. If I'd only come home earlier, if I'd just gave in and installed that alarm system, if only, if only... But, oh, then you find out that she was really killed by your _demonic_ relatives... That changes things a bit, don't you think? Who would've seen that one coming? So there goes all your what if's or I should of's."

"People still blame themselves." He looked hard at her and she knew that he was trying to point out the fact that she'd trained and done everything she could of to get revenge and justice on those who killed her family.

"Yes, and they always will, not matter what the killer is. But they... Your dad, me, Bobby, we all know deep down that there's nothing we could have done. We didn't know what was out there. And as a result, we spend the rest of our lives trying to make sure that no one else has to live with that knowledge."

He didn't know how to argue that, so he played the card he knew best; guilt. "You shouldn't have done it."

"You think I wanted to? Taking their lives was hardest thing-"

"I'm not talking about that. I never asked you to make that deal."

"Dean, I am so sick of this argument." Fury was building in her again. "I should've just let you die then, right?"

"Yes."

"No!" She slammed her fist down on the table and fire shot out in all directions. It lasted only a split second, but it left a radiating burn pattern on the wood. Dean flung himself back and fell over the bench seat and onto his back. She stared down at her hand and the charred area beneath it in surprise. She wasn't surprised by what she'd done, but more by the fact that she almost expected it to happen.

_"Let me talk to him," _Aidan said.

_No._ Nadia continued to stare down at the table. She slowly pulled her hand away and let it fall to her side. _I don't need you adding to whatever anger he already has towards me..._

_"It's not anger. Besides, you need to take a break. As much as I love the destruction of someone else's property, you almost turned that picnic table _and him _into charcoal."_

Nadia closed her eyes and sighed, _Maybe you're right._

_"Of course I am. Now,"_ she shoved her way into Nadia's body and took over, _"watch me work my magic."_

Dean was staring at the table in shock and when he finally looked at Nadia, he scrambled away on his elbows and heels when he realized it wasn't her anymore. "Get out of her."

She sighed and stepped over the bench Nadia'd been sitting on so that she could walk around to him. "Weren't you listening? _That's. Not. Possible_." She squatted down at his side and he watched her wearily, ready to roll away at any second. He glanced back at the table, accusingly and she rolled her eyes. "That wasn't even me, just f.y.i."

"Right."

She reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt before he could even process it and pulled him towards her so that he was sitting upright. "You know she thinks you're mad at her? That you hate her?"

He dropped his eyes and swallowed before glaring uncomfortably back at her. "What do you know?" She raised one brow mockingly. "Oh, right," he reluctantly added.

"But _I _know that you're just scared." He tried to huff the comment off with a laugh but it wasn't convincing. "You're afraid that because of you, she is no longer who she used to be. You're afraid that you made it possible for me to come forward. You think _everything_ is your fault," she studied him closely, like he was a science project. "Everyone leaves. Isn't that your philosophy on life? Well it seems you are too blind to notice what is literally right in front of you."

"And I'm supposed to believe that a demon is rooting for the happy ending?" he looked her up and down and tried to pull her hand off his shirt.

She closed her eyes and took a deep-very annoyed, but trying to stay calm-breath. "Why is it so hard to understand?"

"Right, the whole conscience thing."

"Yes," she opened her eyes.

His eyes narrowed, "It's more than that. I've met a lot of demons in my life-granted, I haven't really done much setting down and having a heart to heart or anything-but I've never met one capable of anything but hate and death."

She leaned closer so that she was only inches away, "Really? You've met a half human-half demon before? Well, that's quite a secret to keep from your girlfriend," she smirked.

"Boy, you all really do have such arrogance..."

"Really," she smiled, "_I'm _arrogant?" He stared back with a smirk. Her body relaxed and she looked him over admiringly, "You know, it's no wonder she feels so strongly about you. You are very...appealing," she smirked and slid her free hand down his neck.

"Don't touch me!" he knocked her hand away.

Aidan could feel fury welling up from Nadia and she was starting to tug her back inside. _Just cool it for a sec. Trust me._

Nadia snorted, _"Yeah okay."_ She tugged harder but Aidan held on tight.

_If this doesn't work, I'll come back on my own._ Nadia could feel the truth in her promise, so she forced herself back. Not happily, but she did it. Aidan smiled seductively and leaned closer, they were almost touching and Dean pulled his head back. "I'm not an idiot, Dean. I know this is what you want. You want her back more than anything; to have, to hold, to grope. She wants it too." She groaned, "Do you know how many of her little fantasies I've had to live through these past few weeks? It wasn't all bad though," she shrugged, "you're quite...impressive."

"Does that count as a threesome then?" he sneered.

She laughed. "I want to show you something," she whispered in his ear.

"Well I don't want to see it."

She smiled brightly, "That wasn't at all convincing, Dean. But _that_ isn't what I was referring to." She reached out and cupped his face with her free hand and closed her eyes.

Images started flashing through Dean's head; confusing, nauseating blurs of color and sound. Finally they steadied and focused. He was watching through what he immediately knew were Nadia's eyes, as she cried and gasped for air beneath water. At first he thought she was drowning but then he realized she was in the shower, curled up under the falling water. He could feel the distress and sickness she was feeling. _That was after this..._ he heard a voice that he figured must have been Aidan's and watched as the picture changed. It was like watching a movie without a screen; it was just played through his own mind.

Now Nadia was walking down an alleyway in the dark. She was fighting against a pressure in her head and was distinctly annoyed by it. It was warm outside and the air smelled like rain; but she didn't seem to notice anything. She was absorbed in thoughts about him. He saw himself the way she saw him. He was strong, funny, sarcastic, and arrogant. She'd said so before, but she really did love his cocky smirk. He was overwhelmed by the despair and longing he felt but a sudden, sharp pain fogged up their heads even more. Two men were attacking her, she was afraid. He was furious. He could hardly stand it any longer; he wanted to kill them with his own two hands. She suddenly sat up, hitting the first man in the chin and slammed her elbow into the nose of the second. It suddenly became hard to breathe and she started to panic but before she could, a voice yelled in her head and she totally relaxed. The quick change in thought direction made her feel free but then she noticed that she was still fighting. Only she wasn't fighting anymore, Aidan was. This was the first time she'd come out so completely. Dean couldn't help but be glad and thankful for her presence at that moment. Her watched her kill the men and didn't feel an inkling of remorse or horror at her actions. _But she did. Does,_ Aidan reminded him with a flash of Nadia curled up on the bathroom floor sobbing.

_And after San Quentin…? _The movie changed again. Nadia was on a motorcycle? He shook off that surprise and focused on what was happening. She climbed off and took one step before a crushing amount of pressure forced her to her knees. She tried to hold it in but it was too much; she pulled back her hair and wretched beside cement stairs. It felt like her skeleton was shaking inside her muscles and she gasped for air. All she could think was, _What did I do? _Aidan pulled them away so fast he nearly got whiplash. Her voice was stony as she looked him straight in the eye, "She did not do that, I did." She paused, "She couldn't have done it herself."

His voice sounded weak, he could still feel that last wave of guilt and grief. "She did. In Montana."

She licked her lips and looked away and then back. "When you saw him hurting that boy, were you planning on letting him walk away alive? Would you have let him continue to live, even in prison?" She studied him closely. "When you saw those perverts attacking Nadia, I could feel the wrath in you. You would have killed them too if you'd have been there. But you weren't, so I did." She paused, "The point is, people do things that are out of the norm for them when they are pushed. When they see no other way. Love can make someone better but the loss of it can destroy them." She leaned back and sat on her heels and finally released him. "She is stronger than anything you've ever come up against; but her humanity makes her vulnerable. You make her vulnerable," Nadia was a bit stunned by her words and her actions but she tried to take over again at the change in topic. She was afraid that Aidan was pushing him away further. "But you also make her strong." She smirked, "I pity the fool who'd ever threaten you. She'd tear them apart..." She recalled his thoughts from when he was watching Nadia being attacked, "With her own two hands."

"Why are you so pro-relationship?" he had to ask again.

She smirked tiredly. "Besides the conscience thing? I do have some selfish reasons." She smiled, "As I said, you make her strong; which means you make me strong. And with some unknown scary-as-hell thing out to get her-and therefore me-we could use the strength."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Aidan stood and looked back at the hotel, "It was nice chatting with you, Dean. We should do this more often." She closed her eyes.

"Wait!" He instinctively grabbed her arm, "Can you show me one more thing?" She looked at him as if trying to decide what to do. She's talking to Nadia, he realized.

"What do you want to see?" She watched him closely.

There was so much he wanted to know, but as he stared down at the ground, he knew there was one thing that might be able to help them all. He looked up and opened his mouth to answer but froze when he immediately recognized that Nadia was back. They stared at each other for awhile. She still had that slightly pleading look in her eyes and he was pretty sure that he resembled a deer in headlights. He cleared his throat and glanced away to get his bearings before looking her in the eye again. "I need to see what happened in Florida. When you felt that thing around you."

She blinked and smiled slightly. "Of course." She stepped towards him and reached for his cheek and looked him relentlessly straight in the eyes. It felt like a fish hook was in her abdomen and was pulling her toward him. The feeling was surprisingly pleasant. They simultaneously took a shaky breath before their skin touched. His cheek was warm and prickly with stubble and she moved closer until their bodies were almost touching. He winced and pulled away, hand to the cheek where her's had been. She stepped back mortified and cradling her still considerably hot hand in her other. Humiliated tears stung her eyes, "Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

He pulled his hand from his cheek and she could see it was red and irritated. At seeing her near tears, he forced a smile, "It's alright. Just feels like you slapped me."

Before she could stop it a laugh bubble through her lips. "I don't slap anyone," she smiled at him. The corners of his mouth tugged up and that little movement made her hopeful. "Guess I just got a little too worked up..."

"Happens to the best of us. Wanna try again?"

"Are you sure?"

He huffed. "I've been electrocuted, beaten more times than I can count, stabbed, and everything else; I think I can handle a little burn." Almost before he could finish, she reached out and cupped his face and that warmth immediately shot up again but she kept it tolerable. She closed her eyes and he followed suit and waited for her to send images to his head.

She was stopping at a red light when something odd came over her. The tingle on the back of her neck quickly turned into fear and panic. She felt like she was being watched and glanced around outside the car. There were people everywhere but neither of them could focus on anything but the dread and hate they felt directed toward them. The light turned green and she slammed on the gas pedal. "Wait, go back," Dean said. Just like a VCR, the picture rewound back to the beginning. Dean focused on what was around them and shoved the panic away; he could feel Nadia doing the same thing this time and it became easier for them both. The sun was obnoxiously bright and it amplified the loud colors of the clothing people we wearing. Hawaiian shirts, mini skirts, bikini tops, and swim trunks were everywhere. The scene slowed and they zeroed in on the faces of those they saw. No one looked out of place or strange. No one was overly focused on the car or Nadia inside of it, most ignored the traffic completely. "See anything strange?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Dean's interest was peaked but Nadia sounded more amused than anything. "Some people just should not wear bikinis..."

He chuckled and went back to searching the crowds. The light was just about to turn, when the crowd on the right side of the street parted for a second, just long enough for Dean to see someone out of place. He was drawn by the odd looks and whispers people seemed to be giving someone and when he saw the guy, he immediately understood why. There, staring intently at the car, stood a man in a trench coat. It was December, but Florida was still too hot for the clothing he was wearing; or at least it was according to everyone else around him. He was pretty average looking-no black eyes or fangs-but he had a self-assurance and power that radiated off him. "Nadia. Here."

Nadia abandoned the area she was searching and paused the scene to examine the object Dean was so curious about. He was hot-and not just in the, you're wearing a trench coat in Florida kind of way. The first things she noticed, were his eyes and his hair. His eyes were a piercing dark blue and his hair was perfectly styled in that not-styled kind of way. "What is he?"

"I don't know... You have to show Sam." They both pulled back to the present.

Nadia couldn't bring herself to pull away from him just yet, so she kept her hand on his cheek. In the intensity of what they'd been watching, they'd moved, unconsciously closer and closer. They stared at each other from only inches away and Dean could feel her skin growing uncomfortably hot but he didn't move back. After weeks without her, the warmth radiating off from her drew him closer and he was just about to give in to it, when he heard, "Hey, you were right!"

Nadia and Dean jumped back and turned to see Sam coming toward them as he searched through papers in his hand. When he finally looked up, he glanced between them and stopped where he was, "Oh, crap." He groaned. "Tell you what, I'll good back inside so you two can finish whatever you were about to do and in about...five minutes I'll come back out and we'll take it from here. How bout that?"

Dean rub a hand over his face and sighed. "Don't be ridiculous, nothing was about to happen." He glanced ever so quickly at Nadia and looked at his phone. "It's almost four o'clock, whoever's next could be dead already."

Nadia shook off his, nothing was about to happen comment, and focused solely on the case they needed to finish. "Right. What did you find out?"

"Well, like I said, you were right. She did have a miscarriage shortly after Emmett died."

"A definite stressor," she nodded.

"So, boy wonder, have you figures out who's next?" Dean asked.

Sam glared at him, "Rebecca's went after the EMT's, Emmett's friends, and the cop in charge of the case so far. I'm betting the next guy on her list is the doctor. The guy's name's Mark Sheehan and he's working until 9:00 tonight."

"So she probably won't make her move until he's off," Nadia said.

"Right."

"You said she killed one guy in this apartment?" she asked.

Dean answered this time. "Yeah. Number five, Brad Arnold. One of the EMT's, why?"

"I took a few classes and have read a few books on criminology and if she went back to opportunity killing on the street, then that's probably where she feels most comfortable doing it. It seems odd that someone would prefer the open instead of the privacy of an apartment building; but serial killers aren't really known for their logic."

Dean looked confused. Sam looked like he was trying to figure out what she was getting at, "So, you think that she'll kill Sheehan outside?"

She nodded. "They all happened-with the exception of Brad Arnold-out in the open at night. He gets out at 9, when it's dark. We should check out the escape options and the amount of street lights in the parking lot; but I'm betting she'll go after him there. Lots of cars to hide behind and ambush him from."

"Okay, but what are we going to do with her once we have her?" Dean asked.

They looked at each other for awhile, unsure what to do. A ghost or a demon? That's easy, kill it. But with these killings being done by an honest-to-goodness human being, they were a bit lost. Nadia grabbed her hair and brought in over her shoulder while biting her lip. "We call the cops."

"And tell them what?" Dean huffed.

"The truth," she shrugged.

"Alright, and how do you think they'll respond to that?" He cleared his throat. "Hi, my name's Dean Winchester and this is my brother Sam. And this is Nadia, a half demon. We were checking into some recent murders you've been having because we thought it might have been a demon or vengeful spirit or something like that. But as it turns out, it's a young woman who's seeking revenge on the people she sees as having caused her husband's death. Can you take care of it for us, we don't do normal, we're strictly paranormal." He glared at her.

"If you would have let me finish you would have seen that my plan it completely logical," she glared back. She then did what she always did when Dean was being obnoxious, she turned to Sam. "You two are already known around here as the FBI, right? So you go back to the police station, tell them that you're gonna throw them a bone and give them all the evidence against Rebecca. Tell them where she'll be attempting to kill Mark Sheehan, go through all your findings and they'll do the rest."

Sam looked at Dean and shrugged. "It could work."

Sam and Dean changed into their suits and left for the station. Nadia stayed behind, replaying her and Dean's almost kiss and trying to figure out how to get back to that point again. When he was set against something, getting him to change his mind was like pulling teeth. And with him dead set against forgiving her for leaving or himself for putting her in that position, that kiss could be a long way down the road.

They'd been gone for nearly an hour, when the phone rang. It was Dean. "How'd it go?"

"Good. Until some overachiever couldn't leave it well enough alone and contacted the local feds... Needless to say, some questions sprang up and we had to take off."

"What about, Rebecca? They're not going to go after her?"

"No, they are. They have to. But since the evidence we brought them was obtained illegally," he mocked in a high pitch voice, "they're only going to be able to pin Sheehan's attempted murder on her. And that's only if they catch her in the act."

"So she's going to get away with 5 murders?"

"Looks like. Stupid warrants," he growled. "This is why I try to stay away from human-on-human murders; the system is whack. I prefer the shoot 'em and be done with it way of life."

She laughed. "So the only way to get her for all five and the attempted murder is if she confesses... Which, with Colorado having the death penalty, I doubt she's likely to do."

"Yeah, so how do we get her to bare her soul?"

Aidan flashed a memory into Nadia's head. San Quentin's cell block known as the Adjustment Center, the worst of the worst. The first time she'd, or Aidan, had ever used their abilities to extract a confession from someone. Nadia would never forget the look in his eyes as he went on-on his own accord-to tell her exactly what he'd done to his 13 victims. "I can do it. I've done it before."

Dean had parked the impala down the first off the beaten path road he could find. Sam was sitting in the passenger seat, no doubt pouting about what had happened at the station and Dean was leaning on the driver's door outside the car. He was quiet for awhile. Sometimes he could almost forget about what Nadia was and what she could do, even know. Even after all the lives she took. But then there were times like this, when he was harshly reminded of the truth. She wasn't human and she seemed to be changing more and more. He couldn't get Themi's words out of his head, "You can't stay good forever." He cleared his throat and brushed of his jeans, "You sure?"

"Dean there are a lot of things that I can do that scare the shit out of me; but helping to put away a serial killer isn't one of them. This is the only way."

He sighed heavily just to make it known that he didn't approve. "Alright, but how are you going to do it?"

"Just...leave that up to me."

"I'm starving," Nadia said for the third time.

"So we've heard," Dean said with annoyance as he parked the car at Taco Bell.

Nadia was in the backseat and impatiently waiting for either Sam or Dean to get out so that she could hurry inside. Dean was the first one out and she slid over to climb out behind him but the door slammed in her face. She pulled back before it hit her head and stared out the window at him, unbelieving. He turned around and opened the door, "Sorry. I forgot."

She climbed out and swung her hair as she turned her back on him and mumbled, "Sure you did." She was the first one of them through the door, driven by the fact that she hadn't eaten since the morning before. Filling her stomach hadn't really been on her mind after the strange and terrifying incident at the stop light in Florida. There were two people ahead of her and she toyed with the idea of making them let her ahead of them but with Dean right there, she behaved herself. Finally it was her turn and before the server could even say hello, she was placing her order. "Number 7, crunchy, chicken." She noticed the look on the server's face and smiled apologetically, "Hi. Sorry, I'm really hungry." The girl smiled back and punched in her order. When she looked behind Nadia to take Sam and Dean's order, Nadia saw her glance them over appreciatively. Normally that wouldn't have bugged her all that much but with Dean giving her the cold shoulder, she didn't feel like ignoring it. With a very gentle and slight coaxing, she gave the girl a warning that would go unseen by anyone near. The girl looked down at her screen, confused by the sudden wave of fear that flooded through her when she looked at the two customers in front of her. Nadia kept her face completely neutral as she glanced around at the menu and waited for her food, but she felt Dean glance at her suspiciously.

They were all huddled around a small table that sat furthest from the other customers scattered around the restaurant and went over their plan again. Nadia had never been worried about looking like a pig when she ate-in fact before, Dean seemed to enjoy her carefree abandon-so she shoved as much in her mouth as she could while Sam did most of the talking.

"We'll be at the hospital by eight, just to be safe. As soon as he comes out, you'll follow him," he looked at Dean," and I'll keep an eye out for Rebecca." He sipped his pop and took a giant bite from his gordito. "If the cops don't show for whatever reason, we'll have to call them ourselves before he gets off work. Once they have her into custody she's all yours," he looked pointedly at Nadia. "I wish you'd give us some idea of your plan just in case something goes wrong..."

She wanted to say that if something did go wrong, she could simply make everyone black out and walk right through the front door; but she didn't. She sighed, "Alright. But no judgey looks," she glared at Dean, who rolled his eyes and looked out the window. "I'm going to tell them I'm an FBI interrogator. Specially trained, and that I was called in by the chief. And," she raised one hand to halt the questions she could see coming to Sam's mouth, "if they don't buy it than they can call him and he'll back me up."

"How can you be so sure?" Dean asked.

She finished squeezing mild sauce onto her chicken quesadilla and dropped the packet onto her tray. "Because I'm going to pay the chief a visit beforehand, make like I'm there because he called-which he will wholeheartedly believe he did-and then, once the confession is in, no one's going to question any of it." Taco juice was running into her palm and down her wrist, so she licked it off. Dean started to argue but she stopped him, "_No one is going to question it._"

Dean stared at her as she wadded up her wrappers and piled on theirs before stacking the trays together to take to the trash. Before she could get up he said, "Do it to me."

Her head snapped up, "What?"

"Make me confess something." Sam turned to him and shook his head but Dean ignored him. "I want to know how it feels, if it hurts."

Her heart started to race. There were so many things she could find out if she said yes; but did she really want to know the answers? Questions flashed through her mind, ones she wanted to hear the answers to and those that she didn't. Are you still in love with me? Do you hate me? Are you scared of me? Is everything in you telling you that I shouldn't be alive? That I'm an abomination? She swallowed and stood up, "No."

He watched her walk to the trash bin, "Why not? Does it hurt?"

"Did it hurt you when I did it? Physically, I mean?" She stared hard at him and he dropped his gaze.

"No. But I did lose hours of memory."

She rolled her eyes, "That was the first time I'd ever done that. I'm better at it now, I've been practicing."

His eyes tightened. "Yeah, I've heard. It's all over the news."

It felt like she'd both had the wind knocked out of her but anger surged quickly through her afterward. She spun around and charged out of the restaurant, determined to walk back to the hotel. "Nadia!" Sam called as soon as he made it out the door.

"Leave me alone, Sam."

"Yeah, leave her alone Sam. She doesn't want to confront any of it." Dean added.

She spun on him. "_I_ don't want to confront any of it? I confronted it when I agreed to this deal. I know what I did, Dean. And those _people_, as you call them, weren't people. Rebecca isn't a person anymore."

"So that's the big plan? You're gonna kill her too?" Dean and Nadia were right in each other's face as the argued. Sam tried, fruitlessly, to defuse the situation but knew that they were both too stubborn to let it go; especially after what Dean'd just implied. So he watched as they leaned toward each other as if physically held back by some invisible force.

"That's what you think I am now? Some random killing machine? Well sorry to disappoint you, Dean, but that isn't my plan at all."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. The people she killed still have families that have no idea what happened. They need to see her in a courtroom. They need to see her sentenced to whatever she'll be sentenced to; whether it's death or life in prison. They need justice."

"I thought death by your hand _was_ justice?"

She looked away and shook her head. "Do you know how many people on death row actually die by lethal injection? Not very many. Most live out their days getting a steady three meals a day, a roof over their heads, and a bed to sleep on. They murdered thousands of innocent people and they are rewarded with more than any of the people sleeping on the streets of LA, scrounging for food and doing God knows what else to get what they need to survive. How is being treated better than all those homeless people who never took anyone's life, justice?" She paused and got herself back on track. "Rebecca will go to prison for what she did, I have no doubt about that. And the families of; Jeffery Weston, TJ Donovan, Robert Carlisle, Michael Patterson, Brad Arnold, and Jasper Morris, will know that she is where she belongs."

"What makes her more worth saving than those others at San Quentin or Florida State?"

She wasn't sure how to answer him, so she gave him the only answer she had. "Because it's not up to me. A jury of their peers determined that they weren't fit to live in this world anymore. Rebecca hasn't been given that yet."

"And if she is?"

"That's a bridge we haven't even gotten to yet." She left him and waited by the car.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Nadia and Dean had somehow gotten stuck doing the prep work for tonight. Actually, there wasn't really a somehow about it, the reason was simple; Sam. She still wasn't sure exactly what his excuse was for why he couldn't go with her, why it had to be Dean; but she was grateful. Mostly anyway. There was still a part of her that hated it because Dean's constant cold shoulder was wearing her thin and, with Aidan constantly nagging her too, she wasn't sure how much more she could take before she _really _snapped.

"Alright, I've looked all around and I think this is the perfect spot. We can see the exit he'll take and we'll have a clear view of whichever direction Rebecca comes at him from." Dean was tense as he looked out over the full parking lot behind the hospital and did his best to ignore the fact that Nadia was standing just behind him.

She'd been standing there for five minutes waiting for Dean to make his way around to the spot. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes to keep herself from physically lashing out. "Glad you agree, seeing as how I called you five minutes ago saying that very thing," she replied through her teeth.

He barely glanced back at her, "Just wanted to be sure."

"No, you wanted to find someplace better yourself and then come here and tell me I'm an idiot. Again." He continued looking out over the landscape and ignoring her. Her eyes drilled angrily into the back of his skull, she couldn't hold it back anymore. "Why did you even call? Why did you insist I come here?" Dean looked like a statue as his whole body tensed and he fought the urge to turn around and face her. "Look at me, Dean! If you wanted me here just so that you could hate me to my face, then I commend you on your execution. It's more than obvious to me and everyone else." He didn't so much as flinch at her words. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily as all the fight went out of her.

A scorching hot gust of air pelted Dean for length of a heartbeat and he unfroze. He turned to look accusingly at Nadia but instead of finding her glaring at him, her head was down and she looked utterly defeated. He blinked and his tense shoulders dropped with the near-uncontrollable urge to reach out to her.

It is an odd feeling; breaking. On one hand there is relief at not caring anymore, no longer worrying. But on the other; there is the terrifying reality that you _don't_ care anymore. "I thought that just being around you no matter how you felt about me would be enough but... I don't...it isn't." She stared at the crumbling pavement beneath her feet, "I give up," she looked up at him. "I can't subject myself to this," she waved a hand toward him, "anymore." She avoided looking at him, her voice melancholy and defeated, "As soon as I'm done with Rebecca, I'm out of your hair." When she looked at him it wasn't with the hope that he would break and plead for her to stay, she looked at him like she was giving him a gift in her promise.

Dean blinked and watched her, unsure what to say in response. He felt dry and hollow inside as she looked at him and blinked a tear down her cheek. He didn't move to stop her when she turned and walked away. He stared after her and felt nothing. No pull to chase her down. No gut-wrenching need to apologize and make it all go away. In stead he only felt vindicated; like everything he'd thought was finally coming to pass and fighting it all was futile. The sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows throughout the parking lot that he was once again staring out over. It was only a matter of time now; before Rebecca came...and Nadia left. He ran a hand back and forth over his head and let out a gust of a sigh and waited.

Nadia was walking aimlessly down the street away from the hospital; her hands deep in her pockets and her shoulders slumped forward. Aidan had been quiet for the longest time since she'd gotten to Colorado and the silence suddenly seemed deafening. _This is better, right? Things will be easier without all the pinning; just like you wanted._

_"No. This is bad... For all of us."_

People Nadia passed looked at her uneasily as she walked by, heat radiated off her body as she glared straight ahead. She was too focused on being mad at Aidan and Dean to really see them or their reactions to her. _Oh right, I forgot about the big bad wolf skulking around out there waiting to tear me apart_ Nadia growled inside her head.

_"And now we're on our own."_

She smiled wryly. W_ell, let's see what we can do. Bring it on cause right now I think I could take out the entire U.S. Military without breaking a sweat._

_"Yeah, that's the attitude, brazen stupidity,"_ Aidan replied dryly._ "Going after this thing without even knowing what it is-what it's capable of- is suicide."_

Nadia ignored Aidan, shoving her into the back, dark corner of her mind. _If he's going to treat me like a monster, than I might as well just be one. _She glanced around with the sudden urge to break something or set something on fire; but before she could, her phone rang. Sam. She sighed and answered. "What?"

Taken aback by the hostility in her voice, Sam forgot what he'd called to say. "Um... Is everything okay?"

She leaned back against the building behind her and glared across the street. "Peachy." A man walking passed stared at her, wondering what she was so pissed about. She caught his eye and glared at him as he walked by. She watched his back as he sped up to but more distance between her and himself but he suddenly stumbled and fell forward. She smirked and refocused her energy on Sam's voice.

"Are you busy or something? I can call back-"

"No, I'm fine," she snapped. "What were you going to say?"

He was quiet for a few beats and then cleared his throat and started, "Well, I just called to see how things were going...but apparently they're _peachy_ so..." He pressed his lips together and stared at the carpet of the hotel room. "Hey if this is about something Dean did, well, he's an idiot."

"I know," she replied coldly.

"Okay, what the hell happened?"

Nadia clenched her teeth, fighting the fiery retort she had on her tongue. "Nothing," she sighed. "I'm f-" a sudden ear-piercing ring made her drop the phone and press her hands to the sides of her head. Barely muffled, she dropped to her knees and gnashed her teeth together just before the windows all down the block exploded tiny shards of glass out into the street. Sam jerked the phone from his ear and stared at it. He held it away and called out to Nadia but she was curled up on the sidewalk, blood dripping from between the fingers she had pressed over her ears. All of her thoughts turned from _what the hell?_ to wishing with every ounce of her being that she was somewhere else, anywhere else.

She felt like she was free falling until she slammed and bounced off something considerably softer than the sidewalk she'd been on. The sound had stopped and she cautiously opened her eyes. Sam was leaning back across the bed across from her, up on his elbows and staring at her with impossibly wide eyes. She blinked a few times and carefully pulled her hands away from her ears thoroughly confused. She slowly sat up and looked around her, "What happened?"

Sam stared back at her in shock, the phone still in his right hand. "How did you get here?" He blinked a few times, "You came out of nowhere. Literally, you just fell onto the bed out of thin air..."

She looked at him just as surprised as he was. "I... I...thought it."

"Thought what?"

"Being here." She shook her head in an effort to clear it. "Something happened, on the street... There was this sound and the windows exploded. It was so loud," she touched the blood that was still trailing from her ears and looked down at her fingers.

_"It's them,"_ Aidan breathed.

"Who?" Nadia asked out loud.

"What?" Sam asked.

Nadia glanced over at him, "Not you."

"Not me?"

"Who's them?" she asked Aidan.

"What? What are you talking about?" Sam asked, completely confused. "Not me or you? What them? Who's them?"

Nadia slammed her hands down on the bed, "Everybody just shut up!" She sighed heavily and looked at Sam, "I wasn't talking to you. Aidan, who's _them_?" Understanding lit up Sam's eyes and he leaned closer as if he could hear what Aidan had to say if he just got close enough.

_"Them. The same...whatever from Florida. Didn't you feel it? Just before all the drama? It felt just like before only it got overshadowed by all the glass and blood. But it was definitely the same creepy vibe."_

_You're right._ Nadia thought back to a few minutes ago when she was talking to Sam on the phone and too angry to really pay any attention to the slow and sneaking panic feeling that was sliding over her.

_"Duh."_

She looked up at a very impatient Sam, "It followed me here. From Florida."

His brows popped up, "Wait this is the same thing from there?" She nodded. "How'd it find you so fast?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "I think the question is more like, 'what is this thing and what does it want with me?' Because I've gotta tell you, I'm not getting a 'let's be friends' vibe from this thing."

Sam looked down at the floor to collect his thoughts and then grabbed his phone. "Dean should be able to make it here and back before Rebecca gets to the hospital," he started dialing.

"No," Nadia said simply and the phone flew out of Sam's hand and she caught it before it hit the wall behind her.

He looked at her in astonishment. "What are you doing? Why don't you want me to call Dean?"

She tossed his phone onto one of the pillows on her bed and looked blankly back at him. "Because he won't care."

His brows pulled together, "What are you- Look Nadia, I know he's been acting like a jerk lately but he'll care. This is you we're talking about." She looked away and sighed. She stood up and walked over to him and put her hand on the side of his head. She showed him what had happened between her and Dean back at the hospital, leaving nothing out. He sat frozen in surprise at her new ability until she pulled away and walked silently back over to the bed. "Wow. That was...weird." He noticed the sorrowful look on her face and licked his lips as he tried to think of what to say. "Nadia, he loves you," he said softly.

"Wrong tense of the word there, Sam."

He furrowed his brow and pulled his mouth slightly to the side. "Do you still love him?"

"Of course." She swallowed and looked away. "But _I'm _the one that changed. He loved me pre-Aidan, pre-deal with the devil," she glanced up and smiled wryly. "I changed and he stayed the same. I can't ask him to feel the same way about me as he did before all that."

Sam laughed mirthlessly, "He didn't change?" He watched her as if daring her to agree with the question. "Nadia, this Dean now, is familiar; but the one that I saw after you came along or after you left? I've never seen that Dean before. You changed him completely. _This_ is comfortable to him, it's what he knows. That's why he's too stubborn to go back; he doesn't think he deserves it. He doesn't think he deserves to be happy. He's used to the distant and torturous lifestyle we grew up with. You make him uncomfortable; and I don't mean that in a 'you have another being inside you head' kind of uncomfortable. I mean that he's uncomfortable in a 'holy crap this is changing my entire outlook on the world' kind of way." He paused briefly, "I don't care what he says or how he acts," he walked over and grab his phone back, "all that matters is what he does when I make this phone call." He dialed and held tightly to the phone as he brought it to his ear. Dean must have answered then and Sam watched her as he spoke, "We have a problem. That thing that's after Nadia is here. Yeah, it just attacked her a little bit ago." He smiled at her as he replied to some unheard question Dean asked, "Yeah, she's fine but I think she should stay here at the hotel room. I know, so what do you want to do?" He waited while Dean talked. "Alright, see you in a minute." Sam disconnected and dropped the phone onto the bed, "He's on his way."

"Of course he is; I'm just another damsel in distress he feels obligated to rescue." She replied dryly.

Sam rolled his eyes, "You two were made for each other."

The corner of Nadia's mouth twitched, "I'd love to believe that you're right, but I just don't think you are."

Nadia was in the bathroom washing her face when Dean came through the door of the hotel room. She glanced toward the closed bathroom door but didn't make a move to open it and walk through it. She had no urge to see Dean again; at least not for awhile. Sam and Dean's voices came faintly through the door. "What happened?" Dean asked as soon as he came in.

Nadia had chosen to show Sam what she'd experienced so that when Dean asked that very question, she wouldn't need to be the one to answer it. "She was walking down the street-I was talking to her on the phone-and suddenly this really, really high pitch ringing started. She curled up into the fetal position on the sidewalk unable to move..." Nadia couldn't help but smirk at Sam's effort to describe everything in a way that he hoped would appeal to Dean's feelings towards her, without trying to be too obvious. It was a little amusing. "All the windows exploded, like literally exploded out into the street. Glass rained down all over her and the sound was making her ears bleed. Then, as suddenly as it all started, she literally appeared out of thin air and landed right there." Nadia could practically see the look on Sam's face as he pointed to the bed where she'd landed minutes ago.

"What do you mean, out of thin air?" Dean asked.

_Nice try Sam, but he really doesn't care too much about how I am. He's too focused on the whole thing about me being even more of a freak than he already thought... Teleportation? Why not, she can already form fire at her fingertips and show me her mind in my own..._

_"Oh, suck it up," _Aidan groaned.

There was a long pause in Dean and Sam's conversation. "She's fine. Nice of you to ask." _Guess I'm not the only one who noticed. _

"Don't look at me like that, Sammy. Of course she's fine; you'd be a little more of a wreck if she wasn't."

"And what about you? How would you be? Would you even care?"

Nadia flinched and turned away from the door, not really wanting to hear the answer. She sat on the edge of the tub and tried not to hear as she listened. "Where is she?"

Sam was quiet for a beat of two. "In the bathroom." He paused, "Are you really this screwed up? That you think this is better?"

"Sam, I'm not getting into some psycho-babble bullshit. We have a job to do; Sheehan's getting out in 20 minutes." There was the sound of movement before Dean continued, "You stay here and I'll be back as soon as Rebecca's locked away in the back of a squad car."

"No."

"What?"

"I'm not staying here."

"Sam," Dean warned.

"The choice is yours. You can leave her unprotected or you can stay; but I'm not. I'm going down to the hospital. So what's your decision, Dean?" The challenge was implicit in Sam's voice as he repeated his earlier question, "Would you care?"

The room on the other side of the bathroom door was silent and Nadia held her breath waiting to hear the answer. She'd thought she truly didn't care anymore what Dean thought about her, what he felt for her; but in that moment she realized that would never really happen. She still cared. She cared very much about what he had to say in response to Sam's question. She nearly fell forward as she strained to hear. She slipped off the edge and caught herself and knelt when the hotel room door opened and closed. She waited for any indication of who was on the other side of the bathroom door; had Dean stayed or were they both gone? Then again, even if Dean stayed, what she'd said earlier still rang true. Dean was a perpetual knight in shining armor. No matter whom the damsel or what their past was like, he couldn't help but do the right thing.

Silence.

Not a sound came through the door as she waited and listened. Slowly, she realized how much she had wanted to hear an impatient growl of frustration or "Did you fall in?" from Dean. She sank to the floor, unable to hold herself up any longer. She barely felt a reassuring nudge from Aidan before a loud; _"We are so screwed,"_ sounded through her head.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

_She sure is taking her sweet time,_ Dean thought to himself and waited for her to walk through the door. Sheehan would be getting out any minute and they still had a lot of bases to cover if this was going to work. _Come on, come on, come on already! _

Nadia had been sitting on the bathroom floor, hugging her knees, for almost fifteen minutes before she finally talked herself into getting up. Okay so it wasn't so much herself as it was Aidan, but that was a moot point at the moment. She reached over the side of the tub and turned on the water. _Always the shower_, she mused and watched the water run gently through he fingers. She'd taken solace in the shower after the near-rape and the first full-on, Aidan assisted murders and she always fell asleep on the bathroom floor after a horrific dream or mass homicide. It was quiet and small and cool; and because of that, it felt safe. It took awhile before she realized that the water was ice cold and her fingers had gone completely numb. She was about to reach for the hot water knob, when it started to turn by itself. She was startled by how second nature and unconscious using her abilities was becoming. _There's your sign, _she mumbled dryly in her head. _You know you're a freak when..._ Aidan just barely kept her mouth shut but Nadia could feel her roll her figurative eyes.

She climbed into the tub and pulled up the stopper on the faucet so that the water rained down over her. She felt as if she could feel her body drinking in the warmth and she let it run over her face for a long time. She felt numb and lost and too angry to cry. She turned around and let the water hit her back as she washed up, completely on autopilot. Once the last of the conditioner was rinsed from her hair, she twisted the water knobs off and flung open the curtain. Clumsily, she stepped onto the towel she'd laid out on the floor. She caught her reflection in the mirror straight in front of her and stared back at herself. She could see the agony in her own eyes, and she wondered why Dean couldn't see what was plainly there? Why did he seem to insist that she was no longer who she had been? Or that she had somehow, through Aidan, learned to tolerate or even enjoy taking the lives of those she had? With every new question that ran through her mind-both from her and Aidan-she grew more and more angry with herself and with Dean. Something flashed through the eyes of her reflection and before she knew what had happened, the mirror snapped into a massive spider web of fine cracks from corner to corner.

A very thin thread of pain ran from her hand and up her arm; but its effect was too muted by the rage that still flooded through her to really be felt. She stared down and watched the blood run across the back of her hand and drip onto the floor. She was vaguely aware of the tickle of water drops sliding down her body and mixing with the red droplets at her feet. She was overcome with the exact opposite feeling of that which she'd had on the street just an hour ago. Instead of being incapacitated with ear piercing sound, she felt as if the entire world had ceased to be. There was nothing but silence engulfing her.

Nothing had changed since Sam had left him sitting in that 70's style, puke green chair and staring at the papers they'd spent hours studying and deliberating. The room had grown considerably darker but the images still looked back at him, lit by the faded light coming through the window over his shoulder. The case didn't feel over, it didn't even feel normal; or as normal as their cases usually were. A good and loving housewife had turned into a vengeful serial killer all because she'd lost her family. He laughed sardonically to himself as he realized the similarities between his life and Rebecca's. If his mother's killer hadn't been something supernatural, would he have turned out the same way? Then he thought about the other hunters who were too focused on ridding the world of boogey monsters to see that if they ever completed their task, they were too far gone to ever enjoy it. What were they working towards? For themselves? For all the other sad sacks out there guzzling shots and making fools of themselves with girls they really didn't want for more than a few minutes anyway? Happiness was never going to come for them; heck, happiness was never going to come for him.

Sam's words ran through his head then. The ones about how much he'd changed because of Nadia and his question, "Are you really this screwed up?" Dean blew air through his lips and rubbed his hands over his face. _Would you care?_ Of course he would care if anything happened to Nadia; that was a stupid question. He cared, he always would.

The crash was so unexpected, that Dean glanced around himself in confusion before rising to his feet. Realizing that the sound had come from the bathroom, he hurried over to the door and threw it open. Nadia stood in front of the sink completely naked. He looked her over involuntarily; her time away definitely hadn't been bad for her physique that was for sure. Their nights together, nights he'd blocked out ever since he'd seen her again, came rushing back and his heart sped up. She didn't even seem to have noticed him and he checked her over more closely. The way her hair clung to her back and face, just like those nights were they'd been so close, so lost in each other that his world didn't even matter. Water droplets glistened all over her body and he thought of that time in the shower in Montana... Something was off though and he shook his head to clear it. Only a split second had passed by since he'd came through the door but he'd been too distracted to notice the blood dripping from her hand. His eyes flashed to what was left of the mirror and he hurried toward her, avoiding looking at her directly. He pulled the towel off the rack and grabbed her hand. She didn't come out of whatever trance she was in when he touched her. He looked at the cuts quickly to see if there was any glass in them and then wrapped the towel around her palm and knuckles. "Nadia," he tried to catch her eye. "Nadia, what happened?"

She blinked and slowly turned to face him. "I... I don't know."

He searched her eyes, "You don't know?" His eyes narrowed, "Was it Aidan?"

"No," her voice was hallow, "it was me... I was angry."

He swallowed and focused back on her hand, "We've all broken things in a fit of rage," he shrugged and sounded nonchalant.

Her eyes dropped to the hand he was holding gently in his own. "I was mad at you," she said softly without looking away from her towel-wrapped hand.

He faltered for a second and laughed uncomfortably, "Well, thanks for taking it out on the mirror instead of my face." He paused and searched her face; overcome with a strong desire to take that hallow look out of her eyes. "It'd be a shame... It's valuable merchandise," he smirked faintly.

Her gaze moved to his chest but it was obvious she wasn't really seeing it. "I should get dressed." She blinked and pulled her hand away.

He realized she was waiting for him to move out of her way, so he turned and leaned against the vanity and she squeezed by without looking at him. He felt nauseous as he watched her dig clothes out of her bag. It suddenly felt like he'd actually lost her; a stupid thing considering how much he'd been trying to push her away, but he was still left feeling lost. He stared down at the blood and water on the floor and bent down to wipe it up with the towel she'd laid out on the floor. Idly, he wondered why hotels insisted on using white towels and watched as the red stains spread over the threads of the fabric.

"Are you coming?"

His head snapped up and he looked out at Nadia, who immediately looked away. "Yeah..." he dropped the towel in the corner on top of the others and followed her out the front door.

Every officer in the county was scattered around the parking lot; some in their uniforms and others in plain clothes. The tip had been unusual and the guys had obviously obtained the information illegally; but Detective Clyde Walton still had to take it seriously. He wanted to take it seriously. Thirty years on the force and the biggest thing that had ever come across his desk was a small ring of car thefts. The doers turned out to be nothing more than a group of teens who'd had more luck than actual skill. Now, there was a possible serial killer in his town and the pressure he'd been getting to put all these open murder cases to bed, was about to come to a very memorable-maybe even medal-worthy-end. He paused to wipe those dreams from his mind. _We don't even know if this is legit_, he chastised himself.

He lifted the radio to his lips, "Alright, Jacobs, Martinez, you two move in but be sure you can move away if she gets too close. I don't need you blowing this whole thing." He ran his tongue over the side of his right cheek, a habit he'd picked up long ago and that raised its head under times of stress. The officers moved slowly closer to the hospital and stayed in a position that would allow for a quick and silent retreat. He scanned the area again and movement on top of the electrical building behind them caught his eye. He squinted, trying to determine if the movement was all in his head or not. After a few seconds, he shook it off and looked back at the sidewalk she'd most likely come down. She was smart; a car might mean a fast getaway but one could disappear a whole lot easier on foot.

"Clyde, there's a white female headed your way. Could be her, she fits the description," Officer Compton's voice crackled over the radio.

"Alright. Keep an eye on her. Let me know if she changes directions."

"You got it."

Detective Walton's eyes were glued to the east entrance as he watched and waited for Rebecca Hale to turn the corner. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins and he had to remind himself that he had to wait until she made her move toward Sheehan. His hand rested on his side arm and that seemed to ground him as he waited.

"She just went under a street light..." Officer Sherry White, dressed as a nurse, was leaning against the open gate and was in the best position to see Rebecca coming, "It's definitely her. And she's carrying a duffle bag. She's got on a black hoodie and black pants."

Like the feeling you get when you walk into a house and can sense a TV on, Walton could feel the web of tension going through every one of his officers. They were ready and as anxious for this as he was. This was going to be a night to remember. Just then a small figure came around the corner, walking right past Officer White. White was good; she stayed completely relaxed and uninterested in the passerby. Rebecca wouldn't sense a thing as she walked straight into her trap.

As she drew closer to the cars, she pushed her hood back off her head. Walton couldn't help the shock that came when he saw her. He'd seen the photos but seeing how small and unthreatening she was in person; it was no wonder none of her victims ever saw their death coming. He glanced down at his watch, 8:30. In a half hour, Sheehan would be walking through those doors, completely oblivious to what was headed his way. Walton checked the locations of his snipers again; everything had to go perfectly or this wouldn't be a win for them.

They'd been outside the hospital for an hour just in case Sheehan left early for some reason. The only member of the hospital staff who knew what was about to happen, was Walton's daughter and nurse, Emily. As soon as she called, Sheehan was on his way out and they had to be flawlessly ready. Rebecca sat on a bench under the only parking lamp that wasn't working. _How convenient,_ he thought to himself. He was so focused on watching every move she made and how normal they all were, that he jumped when his phone vibrated on his belt. He fished it out and saw Emily's number. _Already?_ "Hey hun. Is he leaving already?" He listened and hated how tight her voice was. "Okay, thanks. Love you and stay away from the doors and windows." He shoved his phone back in its holder and put the radio to his mouth, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is it. He's on his way outside, so stay alert and ready." The tension in the air went up a couple of notches instantaneously. He looked at the time, 8:45, he was getting out early.

With every sound of the doors opening, Rebecca's head snapped up but lost interest as soon as she determined that it wasn't Sheehan. She seemed to be checking the tools in her duffle when he came out. Quickly zipping it back up, she stood as nonchalantly as she could but there was an excitement she couldn't hide. After a quick glance around, she started jogging toward the doors and Walton tensed. _She isn't just going to run right up to him, is she?_ With the radio to his mouth, he paused just long enough to see if she was going to go straight at him; but she stepped over as if she were going to go around him. She was a phenomenal actress as she tripped and fell next to him. And of course, with a beautiful girl like her and, being a doctor, Sheehan immediately turned to help her up. Her smile was dazzling as she laughed at herself and brushed her jeans off. He carefully looked at the scrape on her elbow and her hand reached covertly into her bag. Walton sucked in a lungful of air just as he saw the flash of metal in her hand. "Now! Move, move!" He shouted over the radio.

He was too late. Rebecca had already driven the knife deep between Sheehan's ribs. He looked, stunned, down at the knife sticking out of his body. Rebecca looked him relentlessly in the eye as she pulled out the knife and prepared to thrust it in again. Shouts of, "Police! Don't move! Drop your weapon!" busted out all around the parking lot. Walton was already running toward the scene, gun drawn. "Rebecca," he shouted as he wormed his way through the gathered officers. "Rebecca, put the knife down, your bag too. Don't make this worse than it already is, Rebecca."

After the initial surprise, she looked out over all the guns that were pointed at her with an eerie calm. She didn't tense in preparation to run away or show fear toward the spectacle; instead she looked at them with annoyance. It was like they were no more than an interruption to the inevitable. She turned back to Sheehan and pulled her hand back, readying herself for another stab. "Rebecca! He doesn't deserve this!" Walton yelled desperately.

Her head snapped in his direction. "He deserves worse than this," her voice dripped acid. "He took away everything," she growled and turned back to Sheehan, who was barely staying upright.

As soon as Sam saw the look in Rebecca's eyes, he dialed Dean's number. "Dean, you have to bring Nadia here. Now. This isn't going well, she already stabbed him and there's no way she's going to surrender with him still alive."

"Almost there," Dean replied quickly and hung up. "Hold on," he told Nadia before he slammed on the brake and spun the Impala around. His arm went out instinctively to keep her from slamming into the windshield.

Her hands shot out to brace herself, barely registering his protective gesture. The sudden change in direction snapped her out of the trance she'd been in and Dean was glad to see it. "What's happening?" She didn't look at him as she asked.

Focused solely on the road, he replied, "She's going to force them to shoot her unless you get there to stop her."

His recent resentment and fear toward her using her abilities wasn't there and that, she noticed. "I can get there faster on my own," she told him. He started to argue but before he could, she said, "See you there," and disappeared.

Only his constant immergence to the strange and unusual, kept him from running the car off the road but her instantaneous vanishing was still unsettling. _People aren't meant to teleport_, he thought to himself. _But she's not just a person,_ he reminded himself. For the first time in a long time, that acknowledgement meant nothing to him. "Damn it, Nadia!" He pressed the gas pedal down the last few centimeters to the floor.

Teleportation, without the distraction of exploding windows, felt a lot like when she shifted her appearance. She felt like she was caught behind the navel and yanked backwards; it wasn't at all pleasant. She stumbled and fell when she landed on the rooftop next to Sam, who caught her without a second thought. A heartbeat later he let go of her hand and said, "That is going to take some getting used to."

"Hey, at least I get to keep my clothes," she said absentmindedly. She wasn't sure if that was Aidan's comment escaping her head or her own, but she ignored it and focused on the parking lot below them.

"What are you going to do?" Sam watched her as she focused all of her energy on Rebecca's form.

The officer in charge was doing his best to keep her focused on himself, he must have been able to see the same thing as her and Sam could; Rebecca had nothing to lose. Nadia didn't respond to Sam's question. Like back at the prison in Florida, she did the first thing that came to mind. Rebecca was yelling back at the officer, in the middle of a rant, when she suddenly slumped to the ground. Nadia sighed in relief but kept part of her mind on keeping Rebecca unconscious.

Sam was astounded, "Did you...kill her?" Nadia shot him a glare and watched as all the officers froze, unsure what to do. The officer in charge slowly moved forward and that encouraged others to do the same. Nadia thought that over a dozen guns pointed at one woman was a bit of over kill, but she figured the cops around there didn't see a whole lot of action. One officer cuffed Rebecca while another moved her bag and knife into his car. The lead officer holstered his gun and checked her pulse. Nadia closed her eyes and stretched her hearing toward them.

"She's alive." Nadia assumed that was the lead officer. "Go inside, he needs help now!" A couple of officers raced into the hospital in search of help for Sheehan.

"What happened?" asked another officer.

"I don't know. We'll have to get her checked out before taking her to the station." He sounded annoyed and disappointed.

Nadia pulled back and sighed in frustration, "Crap."

"What?" Sam asked just as a car came stretching to a stop on their side of the lot. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who had just arrived.

Dean jumped out of the car and ran to the building. Sam helped him up and told him that everything was okay. Nadia answered Sam's question, "They have to get her checked out inside before they can move her to the station." She was exasperated and didn't look away from the commotion across the lot. She shook her head and let go of Rebecca's mind in hopes that the cops would decide against the delay.The cops started calling to each other as Rebecca woke up and several drew their guns again. The lead officer helped Rebecca to her feet and she looked around totally confused. Nadia couldn't help the small smile on her face as she watched Rebecca try and figure out what had happened.

Dean chuckled, "Bet she's pissed now."

"I think she was pretty pissed before," Nadia replied dryly. Sam glanced between the two of them with a slight smile on his lips. "We should get to the station, I still have to talk to the chief and remind him about our earlier conversation." She started across the roof to climb down.

Sam smiled. "Yes, _remind _him," he mused.

"You coming with us or are wheels just too below you now?" Dean asked with a small smirk.

She paused at the roof's edge and smiled to herself. "Better below than on top of me." Dean rolled his eyes to her back. "I'll ride with you; I'm still sort of nauseous from the trip here."

"Teleportation not all it's cracked up to be?"

She shrugged and turned around to face them. "I have more good memories in the backseat of the Impala anyway," she hadn't been thinking when she'd said the words. She flushed red and pressed her lips together before stepping backwards off the roof. Sam and Dean ran to the edge and looked down to find Nadia standing up from a crouch and wiping off her hands. "Don't have all night boys," he hollered up to them and shook off the awkwardness she'd created.

It wasn't a great distance down to the ground from where he and Sam stood, but it would still hurt a normal person. Dean shook his head, "Show off," and started climbing down the ladder.

Sam glanced from Nadia to Dean, trying to figure out what had made her blush. Understanding lit his face before he scowled and looked down at Dean who'd just stepped onto the pavement. "That's just unsanitary. And I call a perpetual, shotgun." Dean smirked up at him and Sam started down the ladder.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Police officers were trickling into the station now that Rebecca had been captured and was being looked over at the hospital. Dean parked the car in the closest handicap spot to the front entrance, upon Nadia's promise that no one would recognize the car from their visit earlier. At the moment, the Impala looked like an old tan Buick with a handicap license plate. "It's like a big f-you to everyone inside. We ran out of here earlier and now were back and have better parking spots then the jerks themselves," Dean mused.

Nadia watched him carefully in the rearview mirror and was surprised not to see even a trace of unease at her actions. Sam must have picked up on it too, because he turned to Dean, "Not so down on the half-demonic abilities anymore?"

Dean shrugged like the whole thing was no big deal. "I'm just beginning to see the perks of such things is all." In reality, it had been the simple fact that Nadia had been willing to walk away without anymore of a fight; rather than use her abilities to make herself happy, that had started to change his mind. When they'd first found out about what she could do, Dean had been excited. He'd seen what his dad had seen; that Nadia was one of a kind and she would be an unparalleled asset to the good fight. He'd fallen for her, hard; that he couldn't deny. He'd feared her. He'd feared for her. And he'd lost her; but she had come back to him the very first time he'd reached out to her. That had to mean something. And beyond that; the fact that she cared more about his own wants than her own, was something that he just didn't think was possible for someone that didn't belong on his side. Aidan might be a piece of her but she wasn't a big enough or strong enough piece to make a difference. And what he'd seen of her, he had to admit, he'd sort of liked. Aidan was like the sarcastic side of Nadia that he'd loved, manifested; and he'd been able to see and feel the connection they shared. As much as Aidan influenced Nadia, Nadia also influenced Aidan.

Nadia's voice interrupted Dean's musings, "I'll come back out after I've talked to the chief. It shouldn't take long." She'd taken on the appearance of a woman who looked just different enough from herself, that it was easy for her to keep up. The first thing she always changed, were her eyes; they were the most striking thing about her and she just didn't feel right keeping them when she wasn't herself. She was just a little bit shorter, her face was rounder, and her hair styled like a woman focused more on furthering her career than on landing a man. She was attractive enough to appeal to the men at the station but normal enough not to attract too much attention. Sam rolled out of the passenger seat and pulled the seat forward so that she could get out.

"Hey!"

Nadia turned back and bent down so that she could see Dean. "Yeah?"

"Be careful." The heart-felt concern in Dean's voice brought a sudden lightness to Nadia and she smiled and nodded before heading inside the station. She didn't care that it was a stupid time for him to say such a thing; she was too caught up in the fact that he'd actually cared enough to say it. And that, she knew, was what he was trying to get across to her and it meant the world to her.

Dean could see Sam out the corner of his eye, watching him with that annoying, knowing smile of his. "Shut up," he snapped.

Sam smiled brighter, "You're finally starting to see the light."

"Am not," Dean replied stubbornly.

"Okay, so you changed your wielding mask for a pair of sunglasses at the very least."

Dean's brows pulled together, "What?"

Sam laughed to himself. "You're starting to see things clearer. You two are still totally hung up on each other. It's obvious."

"Shut up," Dean repeated and watched the front door of the station while Sam smiled and shook his head.

Nadia glanced around to all the empty desks in the bullpen until she found the one that everyone was gathered around. Excitement was crackling through the air as everyone replayed what had happened at the hospital. She cleared her throat, "Excuse me." The officers closest to her turned to see if someone had shown up to add anything new and looked annoyed when they didn't see a badge. "Sorry," she smiled, "I'm looking for the chief." Everyone except a short woman who was dressed in a nurse's scrubs but had the air of a cop, turned back to their conversation. The woman pointed down the hall behind her without a word. "Thank you," she said too late; no one was paying attention to her anymore. _Protect and serve; when it's exciting,_ she thought dryly to herself.

Nadia walked down the hall and found the chief's office. Before knocking, she glanced around and, satisfied that no one was looking, she changed her appearance again. Dark red hair fell half way down her back and her eyes changed to a duller shade than her own. With a couple of tweaks on her features, she took a collecting breath and tapped her knuckles on the door's glass. There were multiple voices coming from the other side of the door and they immediately quieted upon her knocking. "_Confidence,"_ Aidan reminded her. "_You're supposed to be this big-shot interrogator; act like one. This is your case; they're just around to do your grunt work._"

Nadia rolled her eyes and brushed a hand through her hair just before the door opened. Immediately, her posture straightened and she tried to look like she did this sort of thing all the time. An older detective opened the door and looked her over thoroughly before asking, "Can I help you?"

Nadia had chosen to go with a slightly more attractive image when she spoke with the chief. Police officers aren't fond of higher agencies coming in and taking over, so she figured she might be able to make as much of a positive first impression as possible before taking the rug out from under their feet. She smiled professionally, "I'm here to speak with the Chief Douglas." She'd done her research before coming in. Going in blind was not something she enjoyed but could do it if necessary. After all, she could always just make the other person cooperate, but she liked getting what she needed with her own creativity and intelligence rather than the fact that she was half demon. "I'm Special Agent Hayley Graham. I was called in to help out with the interrogation of Rebecca Hale." She was careful with her choice of words as she spoke.

A man in his early 50's stood up behind a large and beat up desk. _Chief Douglas,_ she thought to herself. She kept a slight smile on her face as he looked at her with confusion. Before he could say anything, she hit him with a tidal wave of will and influence. He paused and resisted it; his own will was strong, but not strong enough; because he looked at her again and smiled back. "Agent Graham, thank you for coming."

"Of course," she smiled back. "By our conversation on the phone, I could tell that Rebecca was going to be a tough one. I'm more than happy to help."

"Help with what?" Nadia had been so focused on taking over the chief's will power, that she didn't even notice the third man in the room. He was young but obviously strong-willed and driven. He looked at her with suspicion.

Nadia focused on him now that she had Douglas taken care of in the corner of her mind. "I'm an interrogation expert. Your chief thought it best to call me in on this case."

"The bureau?" He turned to Douglas, "We haven't even had a shot at her, and she's still at the hospital. You called in the FBI without so much as a warning?" He was furious and glanced from the chief to Nadia/Agent Graham. "I'm sure you're great at your job, Ms. Graham, but-"

"Agent Graham," Nadia answered with an edge in her voice. "And yes, I _am_ great at my job. The best, in fact."

"The best?" he didn't sound like he believed her at all.

"Yes." Here was the part where she made the locals hate the feds. _It's kind of fun_, she thought to herself.

"Well," he puffed out his chest, "I have a near flawless record with interrogations, myself."

Nadia flawlessly looked as if she was trying to hide a smile. Aidan knew what she was going to say and laughed, _"Oh, hit him where it hurts!"_ Nadia ignored Aidan's words and smiled condescendingly, "Near flawless; in a city like this? Well, isn't that adorable." The other officer's smug look melted off his face and he grew redder as she turned to the chief. "When do you expect Rebecca to get here?"

Before Douglas could respond, the young officer erupted. "I don't care if you're the FBI, CIA, or the fricking Secret Service; you can't just come in and take over! Rebecca Hale didn't cross any state lines; this isn't in your jurisdiction! You have no authority here."

Nadia spun on him, "I work for the FBI but I am lent out all over the country; like when your _Chief_ called me here. You're right; I only have as much authority as he," she glanced at Douglas, "gives me. But I have traveled all over the country and many others to break people who couldn't be broken. I have yet to walk out of an interrogation room without a confession. So, I'd advise you," she looked at the name plate pinned to his uniform, "_Officer_ Carter, to study carefully what I just said. I was invited here by the Chief of Police; not by you."

Chief Douglas sat in the chair behind his desk glancing between Nadia and Carter. With his own mind, for the most part, out of his own control, he was slow to react to the escalating argument in front of him. Nadia realized that she was controlling him too much and carefully finessed her hold so that she only controlled the part of his mind that remembered calling her and why he'd done so. He finally stood, "Officer Carter! I asked Agent Graham here to get this case solved as quickly and as cleanly as possible and, according to her record, she can do just that." As far as Douglas knew, FBI Special Agent Hayley Graham had an uncanny ability to get people to confess during an interrogation. As Carter's eyes narrowed on her, she started to worry that maybe she'd made her imaginary record a little too perfect.

_"He's going to check you out, you know that right?"_ Aidan had an annoying knack for stating the obvious in times like this.

_Yes, I know._ She sighed mentally, _great, now I have to keep tabs on another brain. How many brains is one person supposed to handle? _

_"_Person_, being the key word there. In Florida, you controlled all those people in the kitchen so that you could get away."_

_That was different. That was like a quick explosion; this is like...juggling._ Nadia brushed Carter's mind carefully to remove some of his suspicion but hovered to be sure that he was satisfied and wouldn't go and run her name. She blinked a few times to try and shake off the sudden exhaustion that was sneaking up on her. Keeping herself and the Impala disguised, Douglas controlled, and watching Carter's thoughts like a guard dog, and not sleeping at all since Florida, were taking their toll on her. Douglas turned his attention on her and she shoved the exhaustion away as much as she could. "One of my officers at the hospital called just before you got here and said that they should be here within the next half hour."

Even though she already knew, she thought it was normal to ask, "What happened? Why is she in the hospital?"

Chief Douglas explained everything that had happened out side the hospital while she listened intently. He sent Officer Carter and, who she was told was Officer Holden, out of his office while he thanked her for coming. Nadia smiled and nodded before shaking his hand. "I'm going to look over the file you gave me some more while I get something to eat. Airline food is not very appealing to me. If you could just let me know when she arrives, I'll return immediately." She gave him her card and retreated back to the Impala.

As she walked through the bullpen, people turned and stared at her. Not only was she FBI, taking over their case, and an interrogating savant; but she also hadn't been seen entering by anyone. For a second, she worried about her choice of coming in as one person and leaving as another; but the human brain likes to make sense of everything and something supernatural doesn't usually make the cut. They'd just figure they hadn't been looking when she'd come in. Just in case the chief hadn't been in, Nadia had chosen to come in as someone who would be-for the most part-forgettable; but from now on she'd come in as Hayley Graham and leave as Hayley Graham.

Like an FBI agent who thought she was superior to them all, she kept her eyes straight ahead and ignored the looks. Just before she broke through the other side of the herd of desks and officers, she heard a faint voice in her head. She slowed down her pace and focused on the voice. _"Bitch. Bet she's great in the sack, but something's not right here."_ She stopped in confusion before she realized who she was hearing. She turned to see Carter watching her relentlessly.

_"Ah, the eloquence of men's thoughts,"_ Aidan mumbled.

Nadia glared at Carter and wiped away his problematic thoughts. She turned back and continued to the door but she was already growing nervous. She shouldn't have had to wipe him again, something wasn't right. _"We need to rest. I'm starting to feel it too,"_ Aidan said and as Nadia's knees started to feel weak, she had to agree. She just replied, _Not yet,_ and summoned up as much as strength as she could before pushing the door open and walking to the Impala. She could feel the hold on her appearance slipping and she struggled to hold onto it until she made it inside the Impala.

Sam had his head leaned back over the top of the passenger seat with his eyes closed. Dean rubbed his eyes again and glanced around nervously. Even after Hendricks "killed" him and Sam, his unease around cops never really left him. Of course, that could have a lot to do with his constant credit card fraud and breaking and entering; but it was all beside the point anyway because he tried to stay away from them as much as possible. Today, that wasn't really possible. He blew a breath through his lips and looked back at the door. Nadia should have been out by now, he told himself again. He watched as a tired-looking red head walked through the door and down the sidewalk. His eyes slid over her appreciatively before returning to the station's front door.

He noticed the woman walking toward the car and he tensed, ready to defend why he was parked in the handicap spot. She reached for the handle and opened the door which caused Sam to jump. "Sam, you need to move." Her voice was urgent, like she was trying to control panic. "Now!"

Sam jumped out of the seat, "Nadia?"

She ignored him and pulled the seat forward so that she could climb inside. "What is it?" Dean glanced at the building, expecting swat to burst through the doors.

As soon as she sat down, her entire appearance returned to normal and she curled forward with her eyes closed. She was breathing heavy and held her head in her hands, "Something's wrong."

Sam slid back inside and closed the door, "They didn't believe you?"

"They had no choice but to believe me," she sighed. She was desperately holding onto Douglas and Carter incase they needed to be wiped again. "Something's wrong with me," her voice was weak and she leaned back against the seat and kept her eyes closed. "We need to leave, I can't hold on to the car much longer."

Sam and Dean exchanged worried looks. Dean started the car and backed out of the parking space. "What's wrong exactly?" Sam asked while Dean raced back to the hotel.

"It's too much," she said as she let go for the car's mirage.

Dean glanced into the rearview mirror and his stomach tightened; Nadia's face shined with sweat. "But you've done more than this. Many times; like Florida and California."

"That was quick. Maybe I had time to recover afterward before I noticed the strain."

"Or..." Sam started. "Maybe whatever is after you did this to you on the street earlier?"

Dread spread through Dean's body, "If that thing can do that... We need to find out what that thing is, now."

Nadia sighed, "I need to get some rest. Rebecca will be at the station in less than a half hour. I have to get her confession and keep up my appearance and keep tabs on Douglas and Carter."

"Carter?"

"This pain in the ass cop whose suspicion meter shot up when I came in the room."

"Great," Dean groaned, "that's all we need." He looked in the rearview mirror again, "They can wait. You're going to need more than a few minutes rest to keep all that up in the air." Nadia didn't answer, she was already out.

"If they're already suspicious of her, she _has _to be there when Rebecca comes," Sam pointed out.

"Sam, they can wait," Dean replied fiercely. "She can't handle this right now."

Sam sighed and didn't say anything for awhile. "If we help her, she can."

"What are you talking about? We can't be seen anywhere near there and she can't disguise us."

"Then we do what we do best. We don't get caught. We knock out this Carter guy so that she doesn't have to worry about him. That's some pressure we can ease...and we park the car out of sight."

"Sam," Dean sighed.

"You know that she'd be saying the same thing, Dean. We've spent too much time and," he pointed at Nadia, "effort on this case to let slip away. All of the evidence is circumstantial except for today's attempted on Sheehan. That's all they'll be able to charge her for without that confession, and you know she deserves more than that."

Dean parked the car in front of the hotel room and turned off the key. He rubbed his hands over his face and finally responded. "Fine. But we need to buy her more time. Twenty minutes sleep can't possibly be enough."

"That I can agree with."

"And if this...thing is draining her like this..."

Sam finished Dean's thought, "It could be way worse than we feared."


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Nadia awoke to a faint sound around her. She sat up and looked around only to find that she was back at home in her own bedroom. With her heart racing, she slid off her bed and walked silently to the bedroom door to listen for any movement on the otherside. She reached out her hearing to every whisper of the wind and tic of the clock and heard nothing out of place. Her hand was shaking when she wrapped it around the handle and slowly turned it. A deep breath later, she pulled the door open a crack and peaked out into the empty living room. She found that her strength was renewed as she channeled it all into her palm where the familiar and comforting ball of fire gathered.

Every room was empty and she tried to remember everything she could about where she'd been before she'd woken up. She was in Colorado with Sam and Dean but now she was suddenly hundreds of miles away in a house that she'd spent her whole life in but it suddenly didn't feel right. _Teleportation_, she remembered and expected some sarcastic comeback from Aidan, but all was silent. Her heartbeat rose as she realized that Aidan was nowhere to be found anywhere inside her head in this strange place. She wasn't in her head or even talking to her from across a darkened clearing in the woods as she had before. She didn't exist here. That thought scared Nadia more than she ever would have thought and she had to fight hard to keep her panic at bay. This is nowhere she could have teleported, so where was she?

From the corner of her eye, she noticed light coming through the open doors of the red barn where she spent countless hours honing every defensive and offensive skill she knew. At the end of the block of light shining through the door and onto the ground, sat the Impala. Hope surged within Nadia at the sight of it. The door tore open without a touch from her hand and she raced off the porch and across the yard. She grabbed the giant sliding door's handle and used her momentum to swing her around and into the blinding light of the barn.

The cement was cold on the bare skin of her feet and the sudden change from darkness to light left her blind for a few seconds. She blinked the glare away and her heart stopped when she saw a large man sitting on her weight bench. "Who are you?" she barely got out above a whisper.

The man lifted his head to look at her and smiled a smile that made her blood run cold. She never thought she'd wish so adamantly that Aidan was with her, as she did right then. "Nadia," he breathed.

Before she knew what she was saying, sarcasm bubbled through her lips. "What are the odds? It doesn't really fit you though."

His smile turned blatantly nasty, "Charming."

Her muscles were starting to thaw and she raised her empty hand like she was about to throw something at him. "Who are you?" she demanded more forcefully. He laughed at her and in an instant, the fire returned to her hand.

His eyes narrowed and he watched the flames lick at her fingers before turning back to her. "Impressive; but your threats are empty here, half breed," he said icily. She froze again at his words and he smiled smugly. "That's right, I know all about daddy dearest and your scum," he all but spit the word, "of a mother."

Rage flooded through Nadia and the fire in her hand grew to a blinding white that she'd only created once before-months ago, before she knew what she was. She started toward him and he rose up to stand defiantly. "You have no idea what my mother was," she growled.

"I know exactly what she was... A whore," he baited and she continued forward.

"Uriel!" Another voice boomed from another doorway in the barn. "That is enough."

Uriel glared at the figure in the doorway and Nadia stumbled backward. "You," she breathed. "You were in Florida. I saw you." She glanced between the man in the trench coat and Uriel. "What are you?"

The man in the trench coat turned to face only her and watched her as if she were a rabid animal that could attack at any second. "My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the lord."

The barn was quiet for a couple of beats. Finally Nadia said flatly, "An angel."

"Yes."

"Right..." She glanced around her, "And, this is what? Heaven? Because, I gotta say; it's pretty much a massive letdown."

Castiel narrowed his eyes in confusion and Uriel snorted, "Like you would be allowed in heaven."

Castiel ignored Uriel's outburst like he hadn't heard a thing. "You are half demon yet you do not believe in angels?"

"Well let's just say, we see a lot more of the other side around here."

"This is your dream. And we," he glanced between the two of them, "are angels." Lightening filled the sky and flashed through the barn door and Nadia stumbled back as two pairs of giant black shadows of invisible wings covered the wall behind Castiel and Uriel. Nadia fell back onto the cement floor and the lightening stopped as quickly as it had started.

She swallowed and stared at them in shock. "Now that was an entrance," was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

Sam sat at his laptop burning up more time with research. He had spent hours searching over the last couple of days but had come up with nothing that fit what Nadia had described. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. When he glanced over at Dean, he found him watching Nadia intently. He watched Dean's face, trying to figure out what could be going through his head; caution or protection.

Dean's eyes swept over every inch of Nadia's face and no matter what he told himself, she still looked the same. But most of all, she still made his heart race and ache with the desire to touch her; just a simple touch of their hands or the brushing of their arms as they passed each other. She still looked at him like he was the most fasinating thing in the world but it killed him that she also looked at him with the pain of loss. Even now, he was fighting with himself not to brush the strand of hair from off her face. Her eyes raced back and forth and her brows pulled together as her entire body tensed. He leaned forward and reached toward her but didn't touch her for fear of waking her from the sleep she so desperately needed.

"What's wrong?" Sam's unexpected voice made Dean jumped.

He glanced over at Sam and then back at Nadia. "I don't know... It's probably nothing, just a dream," he didn't sound convinced, and continued to watch her every move. Her hand twitched and she clenched her jaw. He laid his hand on hers in an effort to get her to relax. Nadia's head whipped to the side suddenly and she cried out softly. "Nadia," he leaned over her with his hands on her shoulders and shook her. "Nadia, wake up. Wake up!"

Sam jumped up and came over to the side of the bed but didn't know what to do so he just knelt on the floor and watched her.

Castiel watched Nadia carefully as she walked over to the other workout bench and sat down. She looked up from beneath her lashes at him and sighed. "What do you want from me?"

Uriel started to respond but Castiel held up his hand to stop him and never took his eyes from Nadia's. "You are close with Dean and Sam Winchester."

"Yes..." she tensed at Dean and Sam being brought up. Protectiveness rose within her and she was more careful of what she said. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"A lot," he said simply.

She snorted, "You're going to have to do better than that."

"You are-" he started but Nadia interrupted him.

"Not about me. Why are you so interested in Dean and Sam?"

Uriel and Castiel glanced at each other but Castiel was the one to speak. He studied her like an appraiser study a painting, "You care more for them than you care for yourself."

"What's your point?"

"That is a...honorable trait."

She narrowed her eyes, "You sound surprised by that. That I would be so honorable," I clarified.

"It surprises me."

"Boy, you're not one for gestures or changes in expression are you?" She pointed out and he looked confused so she moved on, "You still haven't answered my question."

"They are important for what is about to start."

She sighed heavily when he didn't elaborate. "It's like pulling teeth," she groaned.

"I would imagine that is painful."

Laughter bubbled up at the absurdity of the situation and she shook her head. "You really need to get out more." Nadia pulled her hair out from the thin, black ponytail holder and massaged her scalp; she felt tired even though she was sleeping at this very moment. "Can you just spit it out so that I can get back to dreaming about chocolate and unicorns?"

"We want you out of the picture," Uriel stood with his arms crossed and looking down at her, in every sense of the word.

She looked to Castiel for any clarification or indication that Uriel was lying; but he just looked back at her. She stood up and Castiel took a step back and Uriel shifted so that he was ready to fight back if need be. "You're afraid of me," she said with awe. Uriel snorted but he didn't ease his stance. Nadia raised one brow, "All I did was stand up and you both readied yourself for a fight."

"You are dangerous," Castiel said and Uriel looked pissed that he'd revealed such a fact.

"Duh," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That doesn't mean I'm going to kill you or anyone else for that matter."

"Your recent festivities say otherwise," Uriel sneered.

She gritted her teeth. "I did everything in my power to save Dean's life in the least horrible way possible. You'd think you'd be a little more appreciative since he's so important to you."

"You seriously think that we needed _you_ to do anything? We would have sent someone there to retrieve him ourselves," said Uriel with his usual charm.

"You know, I really don't like you," she replied flatly.

"The feeling is mutual."

"What a shocking development," she said dryly. They were all quiet for a moment and she started to really think about what they'd said. She swallowed nervously and continued with caution, "So what exactly are you planning to do with me, since I'm so dangerous?"

Uriel looked at Castiel, arms crossed, and waited for him to answer. Nadia didn't like the smugness in Uriel's eyes but she too waited for Castiel to respond. "You are too great a threat to allow to...continue..."

Her eyes narrowed and it felt like her throat was tightening. She wanted to run but she made herself stand her ground and not look terrified. "What you mean, is that you're going to kill me," she said slowly.

"Yes," he said simply.

"Why?" She couldn't believe that she was so calm when she'd just found out that she was on the angel's hit list.

"Because you are a child of Lucifer."

"I'm not."

"Your father was a demon. You are half demon. You are a child of Lucifer. You are his greatest asset."

"His greatest-" she stopped herself and closed her eyes, trying to sort it all out.

Castiel continued before she could put together words. "The apocalypse is on the verge of happening. Lucifer will rise and you cannot be here when he does."

She sat back down with her head in her hands and staring at the ground, "The apocalypse? Lucifer? As in the devil? As in Satan?" Her head shot up and she looked at Castiel with disbelief. "You think I'm going to, what, help him?"

"Not you."

The answer was obvious, "Aidan." Uriel did nothing but continue to glare and Castiel continued to stare. "You don't understand," she shook her head, "she won't-"

"_She_ is a demon like any other," said Uriel.

"No, she's not." She turned her attention back to Castiel, "She's different."

Uriel laughed, "She's different."

"Uriel," Castiel warned.

"She may be a demon but she's a demon with a conscience. My conscience. I hear her thoughts, every one of them. She can't hide anything from me. If she were planning on teaming up with Lucifer to end the world as we know it, I think I'd have heard something about that by now."

"You truly believe that she is so much different than the other's we have dealt with?" Castiel seemed genuinely curious to hear her answer.

Nadia shifted her weight to her other foot and crossed her arms, "Oh, so you've dealt with half demons like me before?" When neither of the angels answered, she smiled smugly, "That's what I thought. You have no more idea about what Aidan is like than anyone else outside of me, someone who, you know, shares her brain."

"Let's just kill her and get it over with," Uriel practically whined.

"What's the matter, Fido, my logic too much for your tiny little brain to handle?" Nadia's voice was pure acid.

Uriel lunged forward but Castiel stopped him; his voice still cool and calm. "Control yourself, Uriel. There are simpler ways to do this." He took a cautious step toward her, "We can determine Aidan's intentions for ourselves."

"And how are you planning on doing that?"

"We will bring her out."

"I've already tried that, she's not here. Your angel juice is keeping her at bay or something."

"In a manner of speaking," Castiel said simply.

"We can't talk at the same time; unless you want me to speak for her or vice versa. Which I don't think would be very wise since you're going for the truth and all." She sort of hoped that they would just give up and let her either wake up or leave her to dream in peace.

He shook his head and reached toward her even though he was still a good distance away. He dragged his hand to the right as if he was holding something heavy and Nadia felt a painful pulling in her chest. The pulling grew until she doubled over and clenched her teeth together with a force she was sure equaled that of a pit bull. Finally the wrenching eased but she felt weak and empty.

"What the hell?" Nadia spun around as she heard her voice come from the spot beside her. For a second she thought that she was looking into a mirror except for the fact that her other image was looking down instead of straight ahead.

She was breathing heavy from both the shock of her sudden mirror image and whatever Castiel had done; which was becoming more apparent. "Aidan?" she whispered.

Aidan's head snapped up and looked her over and then down at her own matching body. "I repeat; what the hell?"

Nadia swallowed, "So, good news, I found out what's been after us. Bad news, it blows."

Aidan's brows pulled together with confusion and then she saw Castiel and Uriel for the first time. After a quick glance, she stood up straighter, "You have _got_ to be joking."


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Nadia was sweating and panting in her sleep. Dean kept trying to shake her awake but nothing was working; he couldn't get through to her. Sam retreated to the bathroom to get a wet washcloth to try and cool her down. She was starting to grow dangerously hot. As he knelt beside the bed, Nadia's phone rang and he took it from her pocket. "It's the station," he glanced up at Dean. "They're probably ready for the interrogation... What do you want to do? Who knows how long this thing could last," he looked down at Nadia's suddenly frail looking body.

"She'll be fine," Dean growled and ripped the washcloth from Sam's hand. "She just needs to cool off. Once her temperature goes down, she'll be fine."

Sam tossed the phone on the end of the bed. "You said that she got hot to the touch before..."

"That was different. It was like she was hot on the outside...just her skin. This is coming from deep inside; like the flu or something."

The phone rang again and Sam snapped it open. "Hello?" He listened to the person on the other end for a while. "Agent Graham seems to have come down with food poisoning. Is there any way to push the interrogation off until tomorrow?" He rolled his eyes, "I understand that, sir, but letting Rebecca stew on her failed murder attempt, will help her become further unstable. Unstable, with someone like her, in a situation where she is in police custody, is a good thing. We just need you to do your jobs there and keep her safely locked up from the rest of the community. Keep at least one officer outside of her cell at all times." He paused and watched Dean slide his arms under Nadia's shoulders and knees. Dean lifted her and headed toward the bathroom. Sam hurried to wrap up the call. "Yes, she will handle it tomorrow." He paused and glanced toward the bathroom where Dean had just disappeared into, "I promise. If it would make you feel better; let Officer Carter interrogate her tonight. Maybe he can get something out of her. Okay, yes, will do. Goodbye." The phone snapped shut and he tossed it onto the bed in one fluid motion.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked from the bathroom doorway while he watched Dean lay Nadia gently on the tile floor and turn on the tub's faucets.

Dean kicked off his shoes and adjusted the temperature. He pulled off his jeans and shirt and turned to look at his brother. "She needs to cool down, Sam." He reached for the door and started to close it in Sam's face, "I'll let you know if I need help." Sam looked down at Nadia's shaking body and nodded as he stepped back out of the way of the door.

"Angels? Seriously?" Aidan repeated as she looked from Castiel and Uriel to Nadia. She looked Uriel up and down and glared, "Well I can already tell that I'm not going to be your biggest fan." Uriel gave her a look of utter disgust. She moved on to look Castiel over and smiled faintly, "You have good taste though. That is a very nice suit; loving the eyes."

Nadia glared, "Aidan, could you not?"

Aidan rolled her eyes. "So, I'm curious. Why did you invite the big bad Greaser to the Soc party?" Everyone looked at her with an air of confusion. She looked between them all, "Outsiders… It's called reading, people." She sighed heavily, "Why did you invite the demon to the angel party? Is that easier for you to understand?"

Castiel looked curiously at Aidan and then shifted his gaze to Nadia. "Nadia believes you are something different."

Aidan lifted one brow, "Different?" She looked at Nadia.

"They want to kill you. And in doing that, they kill me," Nadia clarified. "They think you are a mindless, bloodthirsty killer. I told them you're not."

"I'm not?"

Uriel smiled as if all his theories had been proven true. Nadia glared at Aidan and had the sudden urge to punch her in the face_. This gives a whole new meaning to arguing with one's self,_ Nadia thought to herself. It was a surreal experience to watch a 3D reflection of yourself move and talk of its own accord.

Aidan smirked faintly, _you're telling me_.

Nadia straightened up and thought, _you can hear me still?_

_The question is, can they?_ Aidan's gaze zeroed in on Castiel and Uriel. The intensity left her gaze and she smirked again_. I bet the big one is overcompensating. In heaven he might have been a big shot but down here he's put on a leash. Not that he could probably do much anyway. I bet he couldn't even touch me without getting a jolt from his shock collar. I don't understand why angels are so feared; I don't see anything special in front of me. Like over-grown cherubs, they are._

Nadia and Aidan waited tensely for Uriel to lunge but it was obvious from his complete lack of reaction that neither he nor Castiel could hear their thoughts. _How is it that they are completely cut off from what's going on in our head even though they are in our head?_ Nadia wondered.

Aidan shrugged slightly and Nadia refocused on the conversation that was happening outside of her head. "Aidan, could you please take this seriously? This is our life we're talking about."

Aidan sighed heavily and crossed her arms. "Fine, but do you seriously think that what you say about me is going to make a dent in their one track little minds? They have orders and like a dog with a bone, they aren't going to drop them just because you ask them to."

Nadia's face turned grim. She had been thinking the same thing but didn't want to believe it. Somehow hearing it from Aidan made it more real. Did they even have a shot of surviving this? Or was she destined to be put down because of what half of her was? She looked firmly at Castiel, "She is arrogant and stubborn and blunt but she isn't a ruthless murderer." She could see Aidan glaring at her during the arrogant and stubborn descriptions but ignored her. "She killed those people to save herself and to save Dean. Because of a deal that I made. Look, we did our best to choose people who were already going to die. We didn't run around slaughtering the innocent."

"But you did." It was annoying how simply Castiel replied sometimes.

She paused to change tactics, trying to appeal to their conscience. _Do angels even have consciences?_ "Things aren't always that simple. In fact, they are rarely ever so simple. If Dean is so important to you then are you so twisted up about what I've been doing? You said that you would have sent someone to retrieve him from hell? Well it seems to me that this whole thing of him not going to hell at all would save a lot of time. I don't know what your plans for him or Sam are, but I can tell you right now that using them is going to be a hell of a lot harder than you probably think."

Castiel was watching Aidan from the corner of his eye but suddenly his attention turned fully onto Nadia. Uriel was watching Aidan like hawk and she was glaring back in much the same way. "Yes, it would be time saving; but there are things that are only set in motion if he is sent to hell. There are things he will learn only there. Things that will help us."

Nadia narrowed her eyes at Castiel. "You want him to go to hell. You're an angel, how can you fight for someone who is so important to you, to go to_ hell_? I don't know if it's been too long since you checked out the travel brochure, but hell isn't exactly a dream destination."

"As I said before, Dean's time in hell is pivotal to what's to come. His time there sets in motion things that will lead to utopia on earth. It is time for that to happen."

She picked up on the way he was so careful to watch what and how he spoke. She took a step toward him and both Uriel and Aidan reacted by doing the same. "At what price?" A chill went through her body and everything around her seemed to fade slightly. She glanced around to see what was happening but returned her focus to Castiel as she decided it was probably his or Uriel's doing.

Castiel's head tipped back slightly and his face became totally neutral but his eyes glanced around him. He looked at Uriel and gave some unspoken signal. Nadia realized that that was the question he'd been so careful to keep her away from. She was about to move closer and ask again but those gigantic black shadow wings appeared on the walls behind him and Uriel. It was for show of course since they didn't need to fly out of her mind; but it was intimidating and she took a step back. They disappeared.

Nadia looked over to where Aidan was standing and looking annoyed. They both looked grim when their eyes met. "I have to warn Dean," Nadia looked around her as if searching for a manifested way to escape from the dream. A door, a window, something, anything to get out.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Aidan asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Aidan stepped back and leaned backward until she fell back against the wall. She crossed her arms as she leaned causally back, "You know how Dean is; if you tell him without knowing everything, all he'll do is obsess over finding it out himself while doing the odd job here and there. Doesn't he have enough on his plate already? Between Rebecca and you, he's about to snap. Half of him wants to beat the demon right out of you for what you've done while the other half wants to throw you on the bed and take your clothes off with his teeth. Give him too much more to think and worry about and pretty soon he is going to do something about it. About which…we can't know. But if you keep this to yourself and let him worry only about Rebecca, what's after you and his feelings for you then maybe he can keep himself together. What good is it going to do to tell him that all of heaven wants him to go to hell so that they can use it against him to play some integral part in the apocalypse?"

Nadia sighed and dropped her head backward to look up at the old beams of the ceiling. "Maybe you're right." She looked back at Aidan and pressed her lips together as she debated with herself. "Okay, we won't way anything until we know-"

Suddenly cold splashed over her and she gasped as Aidan flew back into her and the barn and everything in the dream disappeared from around her. She felt warmth beneath her and in bands around her as ice rained down over her body.

"Come on, Nadia. Come on baby, wake up. Wake up."

Dean had turned the cold dial of the bathtub all the way on. He slid his arms under Nadia's knees and behind her shoulders to lift her and he stepped under the freezing water. He didn't bother to pull the curtain closed as he sat down in the tub with Nadia in his arms and lap. He'd kept her clothes on in hopes that keeping the wet fabric against her skin would cool her faster.

He gasped as the water ran down his back but he ignored it. The chill almost felt soothing when it ran over where Nadia's skin had been. She was so hot that he worried there would be permanent damage to her brain. He scooted back to let the water splash mostly on her, trying to get her to cool down and wake up.

Her neck and face were flushed bright red. He wet his hand and put it to her face. "Come on baby, wake up." Her head was hanging limply back against the tile of the shower stall and it gave him a sinking feeling. He'd never wanted to see another person he loved like that ever again. After Sam and the deal he made, he'd never expected to live long enough for it to happen. But here he was holding someone he loved in his arms trying to fight against something he couldn't see. Fighting something he couldn't see, something others didn't understand was his specialty and yet he could do nothing now. He hated himself but he was also hit with a realization he had been denying because he everything logical told him that it was wrong. He loved Nadia. He still loved her even after everything she did. She did it to save him and he finally understood why. After all, he'd done the same thing for Sam; he'd done it because he loved him, he was his family. It's what you do for family. It was what drove Nadia to make the same decision; only better because if she succeeded then they all got to live. She loved him enough to give up her own life.

"Nadia, wake up. I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. Please wake up so that I can take it all back. Please." He filled his hand with water that was rolling off her shoulder and tipped it over her forehead like a priest baptizing a tiny baby. At last she gasped and her chest pulled toward the ceiling like she'd been shocked with a defibrillator. "Nadia, Nadia it's okay." He held her head against his chest as tears escaped and mixed with the water running off his hair. "It's okay. You're safe. You're safe."

Nadia woke up to a sensory overload. She was sweating and yet she shivered from being cold. Slowly the fever dimmed and she started to shiver more uncontrollably. Abruptly she became cognizant of Dean's voice in her ear and she noticed that it was his arms wrapped around her that had felt like bands of warmth. She blinked away drops of water from her eyes and looked up to see Dean's face bent over her. He looked insanely worried and relieved at the same time as he looked down at her.

She watched water droplets setting precariously on the ends of his eye lashes and the tips of his hair. She reached out to touch a droplet that had made its way from his temple to his lips and disappeared into the corner of his slightly open mouth. This was a dream, she was sure of it; he hadn't looked at her like that since she'd left. But something didn't feel right. She shouldn't be freezing in a dream but after the dream with the angels, anything seemed possible.

As soon as her finger met his bottom lip, she knew it was all real. Dean, the angels, everything; and she started to cry. Not only were angels after her, but she had made a deal to kill 1,000 people to save Dean, and now angels were dead set on her not completing her goal. It was all too much.

"Hey, it's okay. Nadia, you're safe. You're with me." He paused and nervously licked his lips, determined not to chicken out on what he'd decided to do. "I'm sorry for being an ass." He turned and shut the water off. When he turned back around, he pushed her hair off of her forehead and then followed the line of her jaw with his thumb. He looked her straight in the eyes and whispered, "I love you."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Nadia stared up at Dean for a long time, but she didn't want to waste the moment, "I love you." The words came out hitched and broken as she shook.

His face relaxed and he looked over every inch of her, soaking it all in. Finally he let the fact that she was shaking violently break through his bubble, "We should get you out of here. Get you warm." He folded himself out from under her and stood up. He stepped out of the tub and helped her. She seemed a little out of it so he let her take her time.

She fumbled with the hem of her shirt with numb fingers and tried to pull it over her head. He grabbed her hands to stop them and brought them to his lips. He exhaled against her fingers and squeezed her hands tightly, trying to warm them. She watched him work, afraid to do anything that might shatter what was happening.

Dean almost reminded her that she had the ability to warm her skin to the point where it was uncomfortable to touch her. Almost. Instead, he let go of her hands and curled his fingers under the hem of her top. She was wearing the same AC/DC shirt that she'd been wearing the first time they'd kissed at the shooting range. It stuck to her as he pulled it over her head. He paused to look her over; a desire so familiar and missed that it took his breath away. He swallowed and nodded behind her at the toilet and she slowly stepped back and sat on its closed lid. She'd changed into light blue pajama pants with the last bit of energy she'd had when they'd came back to the hotel. The color matched her bra and looked great against her skin. He knelt down and kept his eyes on hers while he stuck his thumbs under the waistband at her hips. He pushed them until she leaned forward, lifting herself off the seat far enough for him to pull the pants down her thighs and over knees. They fell to the floor with a wet smack.

Nadia was shaking for a reason far different than the cold left over by the water. She was afraid to move; afraid to breathe too hard and change his mind. He slid his hands up the outsides of her calves and thighs, watching his hands with a faint sense of wonder. She cautiously brought her hand to his cheek, not able to resist touching him any longer. He put his right hand over hers and turned to kiss the underside of her wrist. They hadn't noticed how close they'd leaned to each other…

"Is she okay?" Sam's voice broke harshly into the tense little bubble they'd created. Dean flinched and started to turn but Nadia's hand shot out and held his chin so that he kept his eyes on her. She watched him for a beat and then turned her head toward the door. Her eyes moved distantly to the bottom of the door. Not long afterward, Sam sighed with relief. "I'm, uh…going to go…get something to eat. Call me if anything comes up."

Dean and Nadia heard him walk across the room and the door close behind him. Nadia looked back at Dean who was watching her with a bit of awe and amusement. "Did you just…?"

Nadia ignored him and put her hand on his chest. His heartbeat picked up immediately and she leaned forward, putting her forehead against his. She thought of all of the times he'd made her laugh or smile. Their time together played over in her head from the beginning.

She let him see how she really felt when she'd first seen him in the U of M library. That she'd been taken with him right off instead of put off like she'd let him believe. She remembered the way he looked the first morning he'd slept beside her in her bed and then pushed her off in retribution for her accidentally elbowing him in the face. His face when he explained to her how she looked different than her mother in more than physical ways. He'd explained that if he looked close enough, he could see that she was haunted; it showed in her eyes.

She jumped for the shooting range and their first adrenaline-fueled kiss, to the way she felt when he held her and touched her, to their bickering. She thought back to the moment at the hospital after they had discovered that she was the half demon, half human child that they'd been searching for. That scene was so similar to this one that it felt like it was happening all over again.

Montana was a place that was forever burnt into their memories. It was the first time she'd killed someone and the first time he'd tried to make her feel better even if it meant losing his man card for a day.

She was showing him so much so fast that she was starting to lose track of what was coming next. Before she could stop it, his face filled their minds. It was the first time she'd seen him since she'd left. They were at the airport and he was looking at her like she'd changed too much for him. The hollow feeling that formed in his stomach knocked the breath out of him. He knew that he was feeling the same things that she'd felt at the time and a tidal wave of guilt crashed over him.

Just like that, the picture disappeared and he was left feeling desperate to fill the void it had left in him. Nadia kept her eyes closed and softly told him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to show you that. I wanted happy things only."

Dean tipped his head to the side and tilted his chin forward until his lips grazed Nadia's. He pressed them softly to hers and she froze. He slid his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her closer; he wanted to erase that emptiness from them both.

Nadia steadied herself by putting her hands on his thighs as she kissed him back. She pressed herself closer until he lost his balance and fell backward against the vanity. Pieces of her hair fell forward over her shoulder and fell around his face. Carefully, she warmed her skin so that it wouldn't force him away again and Dean moaned and pulled her closer.

He searched behind him for the counter top and wrapped his arm around her rib cage as he lifted them both so that they were standing. She jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist and he stumbled back against the wall. He moved his lips to her neck and spun around so that she was pressed between his body and the wall. They enjoyed the feel of their skin touching for a while longer before he blindly stumbled his way out into the bedroom.

"What do you think it says about someone when it takes someone they love dying to show them what they want most in the world? Don't people know what they want in life by the time their like, twenty?" Dean mumbled into the hair at the top of Nadia's head.

She lay against his chest, her head nuzzled beneath his chin and their legs tangled together. "They only think that they do. In reality, very few people know who it is that they couldn't live without."

Dean kissed the top of her head and she rolled off of him so that she was lying flat on her back. Dean watched her with hungry eyes. He slid down the bed and rolled onto his side. His finger traced the bra that he'd been too preoccupied to remove. Leaning forward, he kissed her stomach and she closed her eyes. His lips moved up to her chest, his lips tracing the exposed cleavage at the top of the lacey blue cups.

Nadia moaned softly and he moved to her neck, licking the side of her long neck lightly. Her nails dug into his back and he pulled away. She almost whimpered in protest but he flashed an arrogant smirk and returned to her stomach. His hands were rough and calloused against her flesh when he rubbed them all over her bare stomach. "My God, you are so hot."

The mention of God brought the angels back to mind and her blood ran cold. She tried to brush it off and teasingly say, "Let's not bring God into this now."

He lifted his head and looked up along her body to her face. They watched each other for a long time without saying a word. Like a punch to the chest, Nadia felt like her heart was breaking all over again. Tears leaked out the corners of her eyes and Dean looked alarmed. He pulled himself up so that he was at face level again. "What is it?"

She closed her eyes and thought about what the angels had said and about how she'd felt ever since she'd seen him again. "I thought…" she fought to regain control again but it was useless. "I thought you hated me," she gasped. "I thought that this would never happen again. I thought I'd lost you."

Dean wiped the tears from her cheeks gently. "Rip out my heart why don't you?" He put his forehead against her cheek bone and closed his eyes. "You didn't lose me, Nadia. I swear. It just takes me a while to realize things sometimes."

"Am I going to have to almost die every time I screw up?" She teased and sniffed.

He lifted his head and looked at her harshly, "That's not funny." Her face fell and she looked away. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, "I'm sorry; that came out harsher than I intended."

She ran a hand through the longer hair at the top of his head. "I know. You were right, though, it wasn't funny."

He smiled, "You were right… I love when you say that; it kinda turns me on…" He started to pull himself over top of her and kissed her shoulder as he pushed the bra strap off from it.

She stopped him and pushed him off. "You had your turn." He looked back at her with confusion until she straddled his waist and pushed him down against the bed. "Now you're all mine."

He smirked and rubbed his hands up her sides, "I can live with that."

She suddenly remembered where she was supposed to be, "Crap, what about Rebecca?"

She started to roll off of him but he stopped her. "Don't worry about Rebecca. Sam and I took care of it; you'll go in tomorrow. Now," his eyes ravaged her body, "I believe you said that I'm all yours… So, what is it you're planning on doing during your reign of terror?" She bit her lip and smirked down at him.

Sam was sitting at a cracking booth at the only dinner within walking distance. He took another sip if coffee and tried to remember again why he was there. A young waitress with blonde hair that was falling from her clip and into her face came over with her pen and pad poised to take his order. She smiled a nice smile and asked him if he'd changed his mind and wanted something to eat after all. He shrugged and picked up the menu again, "Cob salad, I guess."

"Good choice." She started to turn and take his order to the kitchen but stopped and turned back to him. "You're that fed, right?"

"Uh… Yeah."

She looked him over, "You don't look like a fed. Basketball player maybe, but fed, not so much."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he took another sip from his chipped cup.

"You should." She smiled again and then spun around and walked over to the kitchen.

Sam chuckled to himself as he thought about how Dean would react to such a smile… Well, how he used to react; before he met Nadia and was either too caught up with her or too full of self-deprecation. He sat up straighter as a light bulb clicked on in his head; _Nadia._ Of course! He felt stupid; Nadia must have made him come here. His brow furrowed and he stared out the window. She must have woken up and have her strength back…but why did she send him away?

The clang of his cob salad hitting the table brought him from his musings. "Thanks." The waitress lifted the coffee pot she had in her hand and he pushed his cup closer to the edge of the table so that she could top it off.

The salad sat untouched while Sam watched the people passing by outside. He debated on whether or not to leave the salad and go back to the hotel room. He hadn't heard anything from Dean before he left; what if something was wrong? What if Aidan had come forward while Nadia was weak and she'd done something to Dean? Just because she'd said that she cared too much about him because of Nadia's feelings didn't mean she wasn't lying. Demons lie.

He leaned sideways and dug his phone from his pocket. Pressing send, he called Dean and waited for him to answer. "Hey, you've reached, Dean. You know what to do."

"Dean, call me back."

He called again and just when he was about to hang up, Dean answered. He sounded annoyed. "What?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm more than alright. Why?" There was lightness in Dean's voice that brought Sam up short.

"Uh, Nadia made me leave; at least I think it was Nadia… It might have been Aidan though."

Sam heard a smile in Dean's voice, "Oh, it was Nadia."

"Is she alright?"

"She's fine. All better…anything else?"

He paused for a few beats, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Peachy, Sam. I'm going to hang up now, okay?" Before Sam could respond, the line went dead. He looked down at the phone in his hand and sat it on the table beside his plate. Half way through his salad and wondering about Nadia and Dean, he started to wonder. Dean's lighter attitude, Nadia's trespassing in his head… The only thing that made sense was…

Sam threw a few bills on the table, shoved his phone in his pocket, and started back to the hotel. The wind was biting at his cheeks and he stuck his hands deep into his pockets. Winter was in full swing in Colorado.

Nadia stepped out of the shower and wrapped a thin white towel around her. The towels were too short to adequately cover her, like all hotel towels were—or the cheap hotel ones anyway. If Dean would just get over his pride and use the card she'd given him, they could have a room to themselves and spend the day curled together under 3,000 count Egyptian cotton sheets. Of course, in reality, they could never do such a thing. They could never waste away the day in bed because ghosts and vampires exist. And people are so insecure and unable to get over their pasts, that they tie themselves to things like nybbuses and reanimate dead best friends. Not to mention the small little detail of angels wanting her dead and him to take part in the apocalypse.

She stared at herself in the mirror for a long time; taking in her green eyes, long dark hair that clung to her neck and shoulders, and the small scars she had on her body from training alone in the barn at home. She used to wonder all the time why she was the one who had to lose her entire family; what she did to deserve all the fear and ridicule people saw toward her.

Now she felt sick as she wondered when all of the bad was going to stop. Dean knocked lightly and opened the door. She blinked away from the mirror and looked him over. Her chest tightened when Castiel's words replayed in her head. It was never going to stop, she realized. Not unless she found some way to get either of them out of the angels' plans. If she could change their minds about killing her then maybe she could get a better idea of what they had in mind for Sam and Dean. If she could get Castiel and Uriel to leave Sam and Dean alone, then anything would be worth them being safe; even if it meant making a deal with the angels in exchange for her life.

She forced all of that out of her head and smiled back at him. She saw the troubling look she must have had on reflected in his eyes. He moved toward her, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He looked her over and she knew he didn't buy it so she moved right up in front of him. She looked up at him from beneath her eye lashes and his entire body relaxed. His fingers grazed her arms lightly up and down, his eyes sliding over her lips and down her neck. She smiled, "Is there something on your mind?"

He licked his lips, "Tons."

One brow lifted, "That must be a change."

His eyes narrowed and he pushed her back until the sink hit her lower back. "You think you're funny, don't you?" He bent forward and kissed her neck.

"Me? I think I'm adorable."

"Hey," he pulled back to look her in the eye, "that's my line." Nadia smiled and slid her hands beneath the front of his shirt. He exhaled a hot breath on her neck and groaned, "Sam called. I have a feeling he'll be here any minute. I think he thinks you brainwashed me," he grinned.

"I guess that means I should get dressed…" Nadia stepped away and grabbed her underwear and bra from the counter. Dean sat down on the edge of the tub and she looked down at him.

"What?" he asked. "Just because I can't touch, doesn't mean I can't enjoy the view."

She rolled her eyes, "You are such a guy."


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Sam stood in front of the hotel room door and debated on whether or not to go inside. If what he was thinking was true, there was no telling what he could walk in on and seeing his brother in a position like that, was not all that appealing. He glanced around as if looking for something to attract his attention elsewhere but the only other thing in the vicinity was the burnt picnic table Nadia had run to earlier. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair and then lifted his hand to knock. No one answered from inside so he knocked again. He waited but still nothing came through the door. Cautiously, he unlocked the door and opened it little by little. "Hello? Dean? Nadia? Are you here? Please cover up or say something if you two have made up…"

The light from the open door fell upon Dean sitting at the small table in the corner, scanning through the newspaper. He looked up and turned the front page to face Sam, "Look, Sammy, we made the front page… Well, sort of."

Sam read the large print on the paper, _Attempted Murderer Caught: Possible Serial Killer_. He glanced at Dean with a glare, "You could have said something so that I didn't worry about walking in on you in any…compromising positions."

Dean grinned up at his little brother and Sam couldn't help but notice how much lighter he looked. Dean looked healthy and young again. Sam lifted a brow, "You look better."

Dean winked and got up to toss something into his duffle bag. "The fountain of youth, Sammy." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder, toward the bathroom door, "That girl is the fountain of youth."

Sam cringed and busied himself with his own bag. "TMI, dude."

Dean shot him a confused look and the bathroom door opened. Nadia stepped out in a black pencil skirt and simple white button-up. A slow, sly smile appeared on Dean's face as he looked her up and down. He whistled, "Damn, girl." Nadia flushed and quickly looked away from Sam. He glanced from Sam to Nadia and back again, "Don't you have somewhere to be Sammy?"

"Dean!" Nadia swatted his arm and glanced apologetically at Sam.

"Actually," Sam sighed and lifted his bag from his bed, "I was just going to tell you I'm getting a different room. Preferably far away from this one."

"Oh come on, Sammy, she isn't that loud…" Nadia's jaw dropped open and then her eyes narrowed. Dean started to laugh until his arm flew up and hit him smack in the face. He froze, stunned and Nadia smiled brightly, even if slightly vindictively. Sam's eyes were huge and he and Dean both turned to look at Nadia at the exact same moment. Nadia and Sam burst out laughing; Dean didn't find it so funny.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my head?" Dean glared angrily at Nadia.

Nadia checked herself in the mirror, took on the image of Hayley Graham, and fluffed her hair. "All agreements drop when you act like an ass." She glanced at his reflection and she smiled warmly. His face softened as he watched her go about such simple tasks; there was something soothing about them.

Sam cleared his throat, "As I was saying, I'm going to go get another room and then I'll meet you guys at the Impala." He looked Nadia over critically, "You sure you're up for this? It's only been a few hours since you passed out from exhaustion." Dean looked at her, seeming to second his brother's question.

"I feel fine, really. Loads better, I swear," she told them both. They glanced at each other and Sam seemed to be telling Dean that he didn't believe her. Her mouth twisted in chagrin; yes she had hardly been able to move a few hours ago, but since she'd woken she felt stronger than she had in a long time… Since she took off on her own, actually. She looked curiously at Dean and pondered the connection he seemed to have to her own strength. _Probably just a state of mind thing, _she shrugged it off and grabbed her purse which now resembled a briefcase. "I'm fine you guys."

Dean opened his mouth to argue so she decided she'd have to show him if her didn't buy her words; after all, actions speak louder than words. She sighed in frustration and to ground her and call up the warm tingle that was her powers—for lack of a better word. The 70's style hotel room faded away and the three of them were suddenly standing in the living room of her house back in Michigan. Sam and Dean glanced around themselves in shock and awe. As much as Dean denied it, she knew she always left him speechless when she did illusions like this one. His face reminded her of how excited he'd been when she'd first discovered her abilities. He had been utterly fascinated when she'd brought fire to her finger tips and controlled a small kiddie pool of water. Right then she promised herself that she would bring back that child-like fascination to him again. She'd show him that, yes she was a freak, but it had its perks.

The corner of Sam's mouth pulled up and he chuckled, "Alright, we get it. Now can you change it back so I know where the door is?" Nadia dropped the illusion so quickly it left Dean and Sam a little dizzy. Sam said a quick thanks before walking out the door.

Dean walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, his lips at her ear. "You should have moved the door, played with him a bit. It would have been great," he smiled.

She smiled and turned her head toward him slightly and he kissed her cheek. "I came _this_ close to moving the door knob or making him think the door was open already. I didn't think he'd appreciate walking into a door though, so… Besides," she turned in his arms and put her arms around his shoulders, "I'm the good one in this pairing." She smiled slyly and just barely pressed her lips to his. "And I owe him."

"For what?" Dean asked distractedly while he slid one of his hands from around her waist to her neck. His fingers brushed so softly down her neck; she trembled and pressed herself against him.

Her hand played with the hair on the back of his head and fought to keep her eyes off his lips. "Not giving up on me."

His face softened and the sadness in his eyes made her stomach fill with guilt. He leaned forward slowly and kissed her sweet and slow. She'd expected him to kiss her possessively, as if trying to prove to her that he hadn't given up on her either, so the gentleness of his lips made her head swim. When they came apart he kept their foreheads together and his eyes closed. Nadia hooked her fingers through his belt loops and enjoyed the nearness of him.

"You're keeping something from me." Dean's words were soft and only slightly accusing and made her mouth go dry.

She opened her eyes but kept them pointed down so that he couldn't look at her directly. "What?"

Dean sighed and stepped back, "Nadia, I'm not an idiot; I know there is something you're keeping from me."

She smoothed her skirt, "No there isn't."

"You can't even look at me." He paused to make his point and she couldn't make herself meet his eyes. "Do you know what this thing is? What's after you?" She could hear the accusation he was trying to keep out of his voice.

She forced her eyes to look up at him but couldn't hold his gaze for more than moment. "No, of course not," she swallowed and knew there was nothing about how she was acting that didn't scream _I'm lying_! Lying had always been easy for her but she always felt guilty when she did it. Lying to Dean made her feel like the worst person on the planet.

"Nadia," he stepped forward, reaching for her, when Sam knocked on the door.

She jumped at the chance to run away from this conversation. "We have to go." She hurried to the door and out to the Impala. Sam shot Dean and questioning look and he glared at the back of Nadia's head with a sigh.

Inside the car, Dean shot Nadia a look in the rearview mirror that said, this discussion is far from over. Nadia groaned internally; she'd thought she'd been doing so well at acting normal and free from the pressure of the entire army of heaven wanting her dead. Turns out this was going to be harder than she thought. She stared out the window trying to push everything from her mind but the approaching interview with Rebecca.

Dean parked the car down the road from the police station. With Nadia's confidence that she could handle herself again, Dean thought it best if she didn't go in alone. "They already think you're here with someone. Another agent. Sam answered your phone when you were…out. If you're as 100% as you claim, then you should have no problem disguising me as well." He looked at her with a smug eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. Nadia wasn't particularly happy about her sudden babysitter; but she disguised him anyway. She had thought it was almost too easy to convince Sam and Dean that she was fine; as it turned out, she had been right.

Sam waited in the car—disguised as a telephone company van—down the road. As Nadia and Dean walked into the precinct, Dean caught his reflection in the window. He grabbed her arm and gestured to himself, "Really?"

Nadia looked over the short, stocky, balding man with a horrible comb-over that stood in front of her. She was the picture of innocence, "What?" He narrowed his eyes at her and stomped into the station. Nadia glanced around her and grinned before following him inside.

The stationed looked exactly like she remembered it except there was more disorder as people bustled around with files and searched through papers while on the phone. _A serial killer hits the town and all hell breaks loose_, Nadia mused as she glanced around the bull pen. When no responding smart ass comment popped into her head, she worried for the first time if something had happened to Aidan since she'd awoke from the dream. She poked around in her head until Aidan snapped back at her like a sleeping bear. _Sorry_ she thought and left Aidan alone and turned her attention back to what was going on around her. "Agent Graham," a voice sneered from her right.

It didn't take seeing him to know it was Carter. She looked across Dean and smiled condescendingly, "Officer Carter, nice to see you again."

He forced a spiteful smile and glared at her. "You here to work your magic?"

Dean looked at her from the corner of his eye. She sighed sadly, "Still only _near flawless_, I take it?" The muscles in Carter's jaw bulged and he looked like he was fighting for control over his temper. She turned away from him and walked directly to the Chief's office.

_Bitch! _The word shot at her with such venom she almost stumbled. Instead, she glanced back at Carter with a smile.

"I take it that's Carter?" Dean mumbled as they walked. Nadia ignored him but he got the message, "No wonder he hates you…" Her head snapped in his direction and he fought a smile. "You just put his jewels in a vice and crushed them."

She scoffed but smiled slyly while she lifted her hand and knock on the Chief's door. "Come in!" the Chief called and she didn't hesitate as she strode inside. He looked up, "Ah, Agent Graham," he smiled and she smiled professionally back.

"Chief. Is she ready to go?"

He looked surprised that she was already raring to go but he stood, "Of course. Follow me."

As he came to the door and led them out, Nadia introduced Dean and the Chief. "This is my partner, Agent Wesson." She saw Dean roll his eyes at her behind the Chief's back.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Agent." The Chief and Dean exchanged nods and continued on. "Here we are." They'd stopped in front of a gray metal door with a gold name plate that read, Observation room. He pointed to the next door down, "And that's the Interview room. I'll go have an officer bring her in for you. You're welcome to use anything you may need there in Observation." She and Dean thanked him and watched him walk away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Dean and Nadia stepped into the Observation room and closed the door behind them. "Alright," Nadia sighed, "you ready?" He shot her a look, as if reminding her that he'd been doing this a lot longer than she had. She rolled her eyes and looked through the one-way mirror to the empty Interview room. It was just like you see it on tv; small, dark, and depressing. The walls were cinderblocks painted dark gray, the table looked cheap and abused, and the chairs looked uncomfortable. On the floor, that the base of the chair facing the mirror, there was a metal loop sticking up from the cement. Nadia got nervous as she thought of the types of people who'd have to be chained to that; and then she realized she was about to walk into there with one. Rebecca was dangerous, not to her of course, but to others. She was a killer. _I am a killer,_ Nadia felt sick to her stomach suddenly.

She closed her eyes as the smells and screams of San Quentin and Florida rolled over her like a crushing wave. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to stop the floor from tottering beneath her. Her legs felt like overcooked noodles and she gripped the sill of the mirror.

Dean had been looking over the monitors and files on the desk in the corner. He opened his mouth to say something but the line of Nadia's shoulders and the set of her mouth told him there was something very wrong. Ice water flushed through his veins and his heart stuttered for a couple of beats. "Nadia?" his voice was tight. When she didn't answer, he stood and rushed over to her. "Nadia! Nadia?" He grabbed her arm and shook her gently.

When she still didn't answer, he forced her to turn to face him and placed both hands on the sides of her face. "Nadia, open your eyes. Look at me!" In the window a faded reflection of the balding man that Dean had become, looked back at him. That at least, comforted him.

Nadia inhaled deeply and the scent of Dean filled her nose and pulled her out of the darkness in her head. She blinked her eyes open and looked back into his pale green irises; all of her muscles relaxed immediately. He practically dropped with relief when she smiled at him. "Sorry, I went away for a little while there." Before he could ask, she hurriedly told him, "It wasn't the…thing that's after me, I swear. I just got lost thinking about some things I'd rather not think about."

His brows pulled together but before he could say anything, the door to the Interview room opened and they jumped apart. Through the glass, they watched Rebecca being brought in in handcuffs around her wrists and ankles and a chain connecting them to each other. She wasn't going anywhere any time soon. One officer kept a hand on her shoulder while the other squatted down and hooked her through the metal arch in the floor. Nadia could almost picture herself in Rebecca's position… She shook the thoughts away so that she wouldn't slip back into that darkness again.

She turned to face the door as the Chief, Carter, and several other curious officers filed into the tiny room. Carter was glaring at her the entire time and she was actually grateful, because it brought the take-no-crap Hayley Graham back to the surface and pushed Nadia Bella far away.

The Chief glanced into the other room and back at Nadia/Hayley. "She's all yours. Good luck," the way he said those words made Nadia bristle. She couldn't wait to show the Chief and that asshole, Carter, that she was a force to be reckoned with. She nodded to the Chief and weaved her way through the crowd and out into the hallway with Dean hot on her heels.

She paused in front of the Interview room door to take a deep breath. Dean put a reassuring and protective hand on the small of her back. She looked over at him and let herself see through the illusion. He smiled that trademark smirk of his and moved just a tiny bit closer. Conscious of anyone who might see them, Nadia smiled back and briefly touched her palm to his chest. She turned and twisted the knob, her head held high and her stance confident.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

Rebecca sat at the left side of the table as Nadia and Dean walked into the room. She looked so benign; it was easy to forget the atrocities she'd accomplished in her short crime spree. Her long, dull brown hair was messy and greasy as it fell over her shoulders and down her back. A few strands stuck to her forehead and drew more attention to the wild, slightly mad look in her eyes. She turned her head to glance at who had walked through the door but didn't seem the slightest bit interested in who it may be. When she turned back to stare at the mirror, her eyes were cold and empty. Nadia fought the shiver she felt coming and walked across the small room to sit in the chair opposite Rebecca.

Dean hovered around her protectively but she ignored him as he pulled out the chair beside her. Nadia fussed with her skirt to gather her thoughts. When she looked up, Rebecca was glaring at her with an intensity that made Nadia's pulse spike. She could even feel Aidan's repulsion toward Rebecca hovering in the back of her mind. Since the dream where she was ripped out of Nadia, Aidan seemed to be less and less at the forefront of her mind. The experience almost seemed to weaken her connection, but Nadia shoved those thoughts out of her mind and focused back to the task at hand.

"I know you couldn't care less, but we have to go through the formalities anyway. So, my name is Hayley Graham. I work for the FBI and was called in on your case." Nadia slid her hands casually onto the table in front of her and looked Rebecca directly in the eye. "You've made quite an impact here; the local authorities are running around like the sky is falling. You're the most fascinating thing to hit this town since the ice age."

"So this is the part where you flatter me?" Rebecca's voice was low and dry and her lips barely moved as she spoke. She was a far cry from the vibrant young woman she was just a few days ago, Dean noted. "Think it will make me talk about all my sins and…transgressions?"

Nadia smiled faintly, "No, I don't."

"Ah, so you're just not a fan of the town then."

Nadia leaned back and crossed her legs. "The town is beautiful; at least what I've seen of it. But every place, everything, has its dark side." She paused and sighed, "It's the people here that I find grating. They seem…entitled. Like the town is theirs and outsiders are just that, outsiders. Just people passing through; people who should be staying out of the town's business."

The slight shift in Rebecca's eyes, a tiny bit of interest told Nadia she was worming her way in. It would be easy to simply pull the confession out of her like she'd done in San Quentin; but that would look a little suspicious. Besides, she'd never been one for the easy way out. "You've lived here your entire life, right? Your family has always held a lot of sway in this town. It didn't help you much when your husband died did it?"

Rebecca's eyes flashed with rage and her body spasmed and she leaned forward. "Murdered! My husband was murdered!"

"Right, sorry. Mudered," Nadia pretended to correct herself but kept her face bored and uninterested. She licked her lips, "What was he like? Your husband?"

"Emmett. His name was Emmett," she growled.

"What was Emmett like?"

Rebecca narrowed her eyes at Nadia. "You don't want to know what he was like. All you want to hear me say is that I killed those men. And you know what?" Nadia lifted an inquisitive brow and Rebecca glanced up at the mirror and back again. Her mouth opened slowly, "I did it."

Nadia and Dean blinked in controlled surprise. Dean glanced at Nadia uncomfortably and Nadia could practically hear him accusing her. _Too fast. You're going to fast, Nadia, they're going to know something's up._ Nadia shifted uncomfortably, for she hadn't used even a whisper of influence over Rebecca's words. This confession was all Rebecca.

As if she could hear their thoughts, Rebecca said, "I'm sorry, did I ruin the fun? Was it over too fast?" She glanced at Dean's illusion, "Bet that's nothing new for you." Dean's eyes narrowed and Nadia couldn't help but put her hand gently on his thigh as a sign to stay calm. Rebecca blinked and looked back at Nadia again. "You were right about what you said, about people around here feeling entitled. The cops here are the worst."

"Carter," Nadia blurted.

The corner of Rebecca's mouth twitched, "Exactly." She stared over Nadia's shoulder and seemed to be able to see through the mirror. "He wanted _so _badly to be able to say he was the one who got me to say those three little words. Couldn't give him that now could I? Neither he nor any of those other sorry excuses for a police force ever put half as much effort into getting justice for Emmett that they put into capturing me. I guess one life isn't worth all that much around here; but six?" She inhaled through her teeth, "Well, that's a whole other story, isn't it?"

"You were a housewife. You were married to a good man with a steady job. You were expecting to add to all that with a baby." Rebecca's entire body tensed. "And then one night, a night like every other, your husband was attacked and left for dead. A while after that you lost him forever and the grief and loss was so terrible that you lost the one last thing that tied him to you. You lost your baby; a genetic piece of the man you loved. It wasn't fair. Having your life turned upside down isn't fair to anyone. Trust me, I know."

"You know?" Rebecca almost laughed in her face.

"I know you're thinking that this is some kind of interview technique. Connect with the suspect; but it's not. I lost every family member I ever had by the time I was 16. I never met my dad. I found my mom beaten to death when I came home from school. I went to the store for jelly and came home to find my grandpa bleeding out in our living room. Believe me when I say, I know how unjust the world can be."

Rebecca stared at Nadia. Finally, satisfied that she was telling the truth, she replied. "I knew there was something about you that felt familiar. You and I are alike. Very few people know the kind of pain we've been through. Even fewer know what it's like to go that whole time without ever knowing what happened to the people the loved. It eats at you until all you can think about 24/7 is getting justice on the people who've wronged you."

In a creepily similar moment, Rebecca licked her lips and leaned back in her chair just as Nadia had done. "You want a confession; I'll give you a confession. I have nothing to lose." She glanced down at her hands and ran her finger around the cold metal cuff at her wrist. Then her eyes bounced from Dean to Nadia. "The first time, I was so nervous. It doesn't take much to get a man's mind off any sort of danger that surrounds him. Pretend to trip, struggle with your groceries, pretend to have car trouble… It doesn't matter; they just can't seem to fight the need to be the knight in shining armor. Of course, the good guys do it because it's the right thing to do; but the others? They linger, they charm, and they invite you up to their apartment." Rebecca's gaze was distant and Nadia suddenly knew why Brad Arnold had been killed in his apartment instead of on the street.

"He had no idea who I was. He didn't remember Emmett lying on the sidewalk dying but he knew that he wanted to get laid. So I let him take me up to his crappy little shithole and let him believe that all his dreams were about to come true. The only person who was getting anything shoved inside of them that night though, was him. The first time I stabbed that knife into him, he looked so confused." She smiled and laughed creepily. "He was such an idiot. By then killing was so easy it was almost funny. Do you know the first emotion that passed through his eyes when the knife slid into his abdomen?" Nadia didn't say anything but waited for Rebecca to finish. "Disappointment. He was actually more disappointed he was going to get laid than he was worried for his own life."

She went on to describe each murder in disturbing detail but Nadia tuned out after a while. She kept her eyes and awareness on Rebecca but didn't pay attention to the words she was actually saying. Dean's face was blank but she could see the tightening around his eyes and the muscles in his jaws clench and unclench. When Rebecca rounded up the last of her blood red memories, Nadia didn't waist a second standing and making for the door.

Before she and Dean could get out of the room, Rebecca called for her attention. "You look at me like I'm a monster because you have a badge shielding the darkness within you. It can see it on you, just below the surface. Try and tell me that you're facing a suspect with your gun drawn, you don't picture the face of the person who killed your family. Tell me that you don't hope, in the back of your mind, that he does something that makes your murder justifiable. You are nothing but me with a badge. I'd like to see how the public would view you."

Dean grabbed Nadia's arm and wrenched the door open, pulling her out of the room and practically slamming the door behind them. He wrapped his arm around her lower back, "Don't listen to her. She's just trying to make herself feel better. Trying to bring those down around her."

Nadia leaned heavily against him and whispered, "I'm gonna be sick." Dean held her up and hurried her into the ladies room where he held her hair back from her face.

"She's right." Nadia splashed water on her face and looked at Dean's reflection in the mirror in front of her. Dean had locked the bathroom door and Nadia dropped their illusions because she wanted to see his face without any trouble. The look on his face in response to her words, however, made her think twice about her decision.

Dean stepped forward and stood right behind her with his arms crossed. Nadia avoided his gaze by becoming suddenly engrossed in the water running over her fingers and down the drain. "You are nothing like her." His voice made Nadia cringe from its barely controlled anger.

"Six people, Dean. Six." She was surprised that Dean could even hear her words over the rush of the water. "I've killed hundreds." She straightened up and looked her reflection in the eye, "You're right, I'm nothing like her; I'm worse. So much worse. She's a saint compared to me."

Dean spun her around hard and gripped her biceps until she winced. "Stop it! I won't let her get into your head. I might not be able to protect you from some things," the image of her lying limp in his arms in the tub leapt to mind, "but I can protect you from this." He looked at her hard and pulled her close until their bodies were touching and she could feel his breath on her face. "Those men were innocent, Nadia. The people you killed were far from it." His voice was strained from anger and the desperation he felt to hold onto the girl he knew.

"We can't know that. I couldn't know that, I knew that going into this whole thing. Thousands of innocent people are put in prison every year; how could I know they were _all _innocent? I can't, it's not possible. Not unless I stayed there and pulled a confession out of every one of them. I couldn't know but I killed them anyway."

"You didn't put them in there in the first place. Someone else did. They wouldn't have been in there if someone else hadn't screwed up; it is _not _your fault!"

She looked away and fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Semantics."

He licked his lips and searched for a new approach. "Look at me." She kept staring at the wall to her right so he repeated the demand harsher. "_Look at me_." When she met his gaze, he continued. "You know me. If I thought that you were even the slightest bit like her," he nodded toward the door, "would I be here right now? Would every bit of me be terrified that something was going to happen to you? That you were going to shut yourself off again and disappear again? That I'm not going to be able to figure out what this thing is that's after you before it's too late?"

She watched every tiny movement of his face and saw the gripping fear he kept hiding in his eyes. She swallowed and looked down at his chest where she was gripping his shirt. "No," she whispered and his grip immediately relaxed, letting the blood flow again.

He pulled her into his arms, dragging his lips across hers, over her cheek and ear until he kissed her neck softly. "I'm not letting you go again." She knew that he meant his words in every way possible. He wasn't going to let her leave; physically or emotionally and that meant everything to her. Even if she lived believing only that and nothing else, she'd be happy because finally someone that loved her and was fully prepared to face everything that came with her.


	39. Chapter 39

Sam started the car as soon as he saw the familiar form of Hayley Graham walking toward him. He bit his cheek to keep from laughing when he realized that the short, fat, balding man beside her must be Dean. Sometimes he was reminded why he'd also fallen for Nadia; the girl didn't let anyone push her around.

Nadia changed as soon as she was tucked into the backseat and Dean, surprisingly, climbed back in beside her. Sam couldn't remember a time when Dean had voluntarily chosen the backseat over the driver's seat. He suddenly had a bad feeling. "So..?" He asked.

Nadia glanced up, "Mission accomplished." Dean kept his eyes on Nadia and she seemed annoyed by his attentiveness. "I'm fine!" She snapped at Dean when they were on the road. "God, would you back off? You're only making me feel worse."

_Here we go again,_ Sam thought. _You're hot then you're cold…_ Sam cringed as the pop lyrics popped into his head; how he even knew them, he had no idea. He kept his eyes forward and was again thankful that he'd decided to get a different room.

"You're not doing this again, Nadia. Stop picking a fight. We're going talk about this, all of it. And that also means what you're hiding from me about the thing that's after you," he said sternly.

Nadia sighed and dropped her head back against the seat. She looked over at him and her shoulders relax with surrender. She took his hands in her own and stared down at them for a long time, just memorizing the way they looked and felt against her skin. "I need to understand and figure a few things out first."

"Nadia, look at me," he said icily. She swallowed and met his eyes, knowing he didn't like what she'd said at all. "Sam and I have tried doing things on our own, keeping each other out of it, a lot and it never ends well. So please, don't try doing this on your own. Bad things happen when you go it alone."

Nadia looked back down at their hands, she knew he was right; look how things had turned out when she'd went off on her own. She had a bad feeling about the angels, not just for herself, but for Sam and Dean as well. There was too much she just didn't know, but she had to give him something. "Angels," she said just loud enough for him to hear.

His body seemed to freeze for half a breath. "What?"

"The guy in the trench coat? He's an angel."

Dean threw her hands away and she jerked back, startled. "Dammit, Nadia quit messing around."

"I'm not."

He rolled his eyes, "Right, I'm supposed to believe _angels_ are trying to kill you? Even if I believed in angels, you expect me to believe that they're trying to _kill_ you?"

"You wanted me to tell you, so I'm telling you!" She was peeved at his sudden attitude. "As stupid as it sounds; yes, angels are trying to kill me."

"And you think this because?"

"I don't think it. I know it," she said through her teeth.

"What because they told you?"

"No, they showed me."

He laughed bitterly, "Really? What, did they pull out their big fluffy wings?"

She swallowed. "They're not fluffy, or at least I don't think they are. They were sort of just shadows of wings; but they looked…scarier than what you'd expect." She was sort of talking more to herself than Dean at that point so she didn't see the, _are you insane_ look Dean gave her. "But I did see them, in my dream," she said adamantly.

"Nadia, do you hear yourself right now?" Dean looked seriously worried for her sanity. "Your _dream._ I can fly and shoot fire out my ass in a dream! Anything can happen in a dream."

"I know that. But this was different… It was so real. I'm telling you, Dean," she looked him in the eyes, "they're angels."

Before Dean could respond, Sam broke in, "Dean. I've told you before; angels aren't all fluffy wings and cheery smiles. They're warriors and," he glanced into the rearview mirror to see Nadia, "as much as we forget, Nadia's half demon." He looked back at Dean's reflection, careful to keep an eye on the road, "I doubt they're real gung-ho about the idea of her in general."

"But angels, Sammy? It's a whole lot more likely that they're high level demons pretending to be angels to throw us all off."

Sam shrugged one shoulder, "Maybe, but we could be screwing up royally if we don't even take into consideration what Nadia's saying."

Dean sighed, shaking his head and looking up at the ceiling. Sam pulled the car into the hotel parking lot and turned off the ignition. "Okay, so say these are…angels."

"Which they are," Nadia interjected testily.

Dean barely suppressed an eye roll, "Say they are angels. What do they want?"

This was the part Nadia didn't want to get into, "I don't know." She was telling the truth, she didn't know exactly what they wanted other than to kill her and set into motion something having to do with Dean and Sam. But before she was going to share that little tidbit, she was determined to find out more before worrying the two of them too soon. Dean narrowed his eyes at her and she repeated, "I really don't."

Dean must have believed her because after staring at her for a while, he climbed out of the car. Nadia followed him and he turned at Sam, "We'll get packed up and see you in an hour or so?" Sam nodded and hurried away to his hotel room. Dean turned on Nadia before she could slip away, "And we're not finished." He shut the car door and swept his arm out mockingly, "After you."

Nadia rolled her eyes and brushed past him and into their room. She spun around before he could start, "I already told you everything."

Dean sat heavily down in one of the chairs by the table. "I highly doubt that. Now sit," he gestured to the chair across from him, "and spill it."

Nadia grit her teeth and sat down. "You're not my dad, you know."

Dean's eyes slid downward and stared at her chest, "I'm thankful for that." He continued to stare unabashedly, "Or this would be just plain creepy."

Nadia rolled her eyes and fidgeted with her hands. Neither of them said anything, Nadia fidgeting and Dean leaning back watching her like he didn't have a care in the world. Finally Nadia sighed and laid her hands flat on the table, palms down. "I woke up in my room at home and I thought I had accidentally teleported or something. When I looked around I saw the light on and the door open of the big red barn and the Impala parked out front. I ran out there thinking that maybe you were there but you weren't.

"This big black guy was sitting on the weight bench—at total ass, by the way—and he knew things. Things about my mom and dad. He knew what I was and he baited me until another man stepped into the room. He was the one we saw in Florida, he said his name was Castiel and the other guy was Uriel."

Dean interrupted her with a snort, "Like The Little Mermaid?"

Nadia looked at him like he was an idiot, "That was Ariel not Uriel."

Dean blinked and looked away slightly embarrassed but he knew he shouldn't be embarrassed about getting something like that wrong. "Whatever," he mumbled.

"Anyway," Nadia shot him a glare and continued, "Castiel must have been Uriel's boss because he listened to him. Uriel wanted to kill me right then and there—which I don't know how he could have done since it was a dream, but then again, they're angels so who knows—but Castiel seemed curious about what I had to say."

Dean tried to get to the point, "Why do they want to kill you?"

She blinked and looked down at her hands which were fidgety again. "They say I'm an unfair advantage to the wrong side in their prize fight."

Dean's eyes narrowed in confusion, "What prize fight?"

Nadia hesitated, "The apocalypse."

"The apocalypse?" Dean asked flatly.

She met his gaze again, "Yeah. Like _the _apocalypse. End of the world. Good versus bad and all that," she shrugged.

"Oh, that little thing," Dean said.

"Anyway, they think I'll fight on the side of bad because of Aidan and so, if they kill me, then that helps them out. I tried to tell Castiel that Aidan wasn't like other demons, because she was linked with me." Nadia could tell by the look on Dean's face that he didn't quite agree with her assessment of Aidan. She ignored it. "He seemed curious so he…pulled her out of me. It was surreal. I mean she was standing right there beside me, like a reflection. Only she wasn't a reflection because she moved on her own and she was as real as you are right now." She paused and her shoulders relaxed, "Then the angels disappeared and I was pulled out of the dream."

Dean wiped his hand over his face with an overwhelmed sigh. "So this is all because they think Aidan will fight against them? So they want to kill you because they actually want to kill Aidan?"

"Yes."

"And that's it? That's all you know?" Dean looked at her hard, watching for anything that would tell him otherwise.

Nadia pushed away everything she'd left out and looked straight in the eyes, "Yes."

Dean was back in the driver's seat pointing the Impala toward Bobby's. Sam was staring out the window thinking over everything Dean had told him about Nadia's dream while Nadia slept in the backseat. Dean and Sam had agreed that they'd need Bobby's help and advice with everything new they'd discovered. Angels were way out of their area of expertise. And the apocalypse? Well that was so far above their pay grade, they didn't even know where to begin. Heck, Dean wasn't even sure if he believed any of it.

"You really believe in this whole angel thing, Sammy?" Dean kept his eyes on the road, his hand gripping and loosening on the steering wheel.

Sam glanced back at Nadia's sleeping form and then watched Dean. "We've seen so many bad things that most people have never even heard of. Angels are one of the most widely known and believed in beings in the entire world; why can't it be possible that they exist?"

Dean licked his bottom lip, "Because they're angels, Sammy. Which means, if they exist then God exists. And if God exists, then why the hell do people like us exist? Does he hate the human race? I mean why else would he throw us down here with things like vampires and werewolves and demons? Why do little kids die and murderers like Rebecca live? Where are all God's angels when that stuff is going down?"

Sam looked out the windshield for a moment. "I don't know," he finally said. "But I do know that I trust Nadia and what she says; so if she says that what she saw were angels…then I believe she saw angels."

Dean looked over at his little brother and wished, not for the first time, that he could have the faith and trust that he had. No matter how hard he tried, there was still a part of him that would not, could not, trust Nadia as completely as he wanted. As human and amazing as she was, she was just as much a demon and that was something he knew he would never be able to forget. What he did know though was that no matter what, he would do whatever it took to keep her safe and if that meant taking on the armies of heaven to do so; then so be it.

Nadia looked out over the lush rolling hills of the Irish countryside. She was surrounded by little yellow flowers—perhaps daffodils, she wasn't big on flowers—that blew gently in the breeze. The view was one she'd seen a long time ago in a calendar and could never forget. It was the openness and the emptiness that stuck with her. Back home there were views similar to this but houses and barns scattered the picturesque view. Ireland looked like a place from a storybook back in the time of Camelot, where one could roam the countryside without obnoxious orange No Trespassing signs glaring at you. Some part of her had always been fascinated by that possibility; of roaming without borders.

She suddenly became aware of someone standing behind her. Her head snapped around hoping to see Dean but the sight of Castiel caused her to scramble to her feet. He was looking down at her the same way he'd looked at her before, without expression. Her feet planted themselves shoulder width apart in case she needed to fight. She glanced behind her when she didn't see Uriel standing beside Castiel. She thought perhaps he may have been sneaking up behind her, but the grass was empty and she turned back to Castiel warily. "Where's your guard dog?"

In that same disinterested tone, he replied, "Uriel is seeing to other matters. I wished to speak to you alone."

She guardedly looked him up and down but saw nothing that put her on edge. Her posture relaxed and she rubbed her hands together to wipe away the pieces of grass she'd been tearing up. "I don't know whether I find that comforting or not." Not surprisingly, he didn't reply. "What is it you want to discuss?"

Castiel was looking out over the hills behind her, seemingly forgetting her presence. "Where is this?"

Nadia glanced over her shoulder and back, "Ireland." He just sort of nodded but didn't say anything. "Look is this going to become a regular thing now?" He looked at her blankly and she added, "Are you going to keep popping up in my dreams? Cause I gotta tell you that could get awkward."

"Once we enter your dreams it becomes much easier for us to re-enter them."

Nadia picked up on what he wasn't saying. "And talking to me here means that you don't have to reveal yourself to Sam or Dean until your big plan says to."

Castiel's eyes slid from the view to her and she knew she was right. "There are plans that have been laid out that must happen the way they were meant to happen."

Not really expecting an honest answer or an answer at all for that matter, Nadia tried again. "And Sam and Dean fit in there how exactly…?" He looked away from her again. After a while of silence Nadia sighed heavily and sat back down where she'd been before he'd shown up. "You know, I've been thinking about what you guys said before; about me being a child of Lucifer or whatever. And I concede that you may be right but if that is true than there is also something you are forgetting. I am as much human as I am demon and therefore; I am as much a child of God as I am a child of Lucifer. That has to count for something right?"

Castiel looked over the way Nadia was sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her and he awkwardly sat down a few feet away, mimicking her posture. "We don't see things that way."

She tossed her hair over her shoulders and could see him watching the movement from the corner of her eye. "Like Obama," she smiled faintly to herself. "He's a little black, a little Middle Eastern, and a little white; but he's considered black or even Arab, but never white. Because most people focus solely on what they see as "bad" instead of what the facts are. Americans are prejudice in a lot of ways and with a lot of ethnicities; but who knew angels were the same way."

He looked closely at her and, if she didn't know any better, she would have said he almost looked annoyed. "God created man in his own image. The color of their skin or the place of their birth makes no difference."

She looked over at him, "Unless you're me."

"That is different."

"Have you ever heard the saying, 'Sons shouldn't pay for the sins of their father'?"

"Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin." Castiel said the words to the hills that stretched beyond them and Nadia immediately recognized the tone as a bible verse.

She looked over at him calmly. "Words from your God's bible and yet here you are to put me to death for the sins of my father."

He looked back at her and said, "The Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

She listened carefully to his words, "So the bible is contradictive. Shocking."

"The bible was written by man and gets many things wrong."

"So which is wrong? Punishing generation after generation for the wrong doings of one or treating each generation as its own?"

"What applies to man does not apply to you."

Nadia and Castiel were quiet for a long time. Finally Nadia asked, "What do you know of my dad?"

Castiel blinked at her, "I know he was a demon."

She laughed bitterly. "My dad wished to be human so badly that he practically renounced the fact of what he truly was. He gave up their way of thinking and living and helped humans instead of reveled in their pain. He turned his back on what he was and he was killed for it." She paused. "I'm sure he was no saint before; but he was no demon afterward."

"You are always what you are no matter how you try to change that. I will always be an angel of the lord and you will always be the daughter of a demon."

"Lucifer rebelled. He renounced your beliefs and he fell and he became something different."

"No. Lucifer will always be an angel. He is just an angel that has fallen, an angel that has been lost."

"So if he just apologized, he'd be welcome back into heaven with open arms because, after all, he is still an angel?"

"No. Lucifer will never return home; his actions could never be forgiven."

She paused nervously. "What Uriel said, about me and heaven, was that true?"

Castiel dropped his gaze, "Demons do not walk in heaven."

She swallowed thickly, "So no matter what I do, I will always only end up in hell?" She didn't need him to answer because she could tell by his demeanor what his answer was going to be. He didn't say anything. "Well…that sucks."

They were silent for a long time and Nadia couldn't help but replay Castiel's words over and over again in her head, _Demons do not walk in heaven. _Tears started to run freely down her face and she didn't bother to wipe them away.

Castiel watched her with a type of fascination as she cried. This half demon girl was crying over the loss of something she could never have had; she was crying for heaven. He was starting to realize something, she really was different. Far different than anyone thought or expected and for the first time in his long, long life, Castiel started to second guess his angelic duties.

"Look, could you just," she turned toward him but her was gone, "…leave." She blinked and wiped her tears away and looked over the view that had suddenly become both more and less than it had a moment ago. She would never go to heaven; this could be the most beautiful place she'd ever see. She would never go to heaven; nothing could compare to what she would never have.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Nadia felt the car slow while she hovered in that state between sleep and consciousness. She didn't want to open her eyes because when she was asleep she could get lost in dreams and she wasn't haunted by what Castiel had told her. As soon as she opened her eyes and officially rejoined reality, she knew the thoughts would cycle around and around in her mind and she couldn't face that yet. So she pretended she was asleep just a little bit longer.

After about another hour or so, she heard Dean and Sam debating on where to stop to eat and she knew she'd have to wake up soon. "She's still sleeping; do you want me to wake her up?" She heard Sam ask Dean.

She heard the driver's seat squeak when Dean turned to glance behind him, "Let's find a place first. She hasn't been able to get much rest lately, what with murderous angels high jacking her dreams and everything." She could tell by the wry tone to his voice that he still wasn't 100% sold on the whole killer angels thing. Still, the phrasing he used made her smile and she felt just a little bit better about facing the world again.

She sighed and stretched when the Impala bumped into the driveway of some generic diner along the highway. "I didn't give you those debit cards so that you could continue your crappy food, crappy motel room lifestyle, you know?"

Dean smiled and shifted the car into park and turned off the engine. "Well, the place next door requires a tie, so…"

"You have a tie in your duffle bag," she replied smugly. "Feds have to keep up appearances after all."

Sam chuckled to himself while he leaned back to watch Dean and Nadia bicker. It was a nice change from having to do it himself. Dean looked in the rearview mirror at her with a small smirk and Nadia sat up and put her chin on his shoulder. He enjoyed the smell of her before she spoke; it was a nice change from all guy, all the time. "Besides, don't you know, your girlfriend has a fully stocked closet conveniently located right up here?" She pointed to her temple and he rolled his eyes.

"If you really don't want to eat here, we can get back on the road and find someplace else." He was trying to be accommodating but Nadia could hear that tone that guys use when they don't want to end up sleeping on the couch but don't want to go someplace else either. Nadia smiled and turned her head toward his ear, stubble scratching her nose. He smelled good, familiar. "That's okay, I'm starving." She kissed his neck and slid over to open the door and climb out.

Sam unfolded himself from the front seat at the exact same time as Dean and it made another smile tug at Nadia's lips. Nadia glanced up to read the name on the side of the building, Red Brick Bar, she shook her head and headed inside. Dean caught her elbow and pulled her back. Sam glanced back but saw Dean's face and continued inside.

"What's the matter?" Nadia looked at him, glancing from eye to eye.

He opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind and pulled her tight against his body. His fingers slid up the back of her neck and threaded themselves into her hair. The kiss was soft and so loving it made her heart ache when she thought about what she was keeping from him. Pushing those thoughts away, she let herself melt against him and enjoy this little moment of her own heaven. She felt Aidan roll her eyes at the cheesy statement but ignored her; as it was becoming easier and easier to do so. Dean pulled away but kept his forehead against hers and she kept her eyes closed holding that feeling for as long as she could. And then Dean opened his big mouth and it all dropped away like the Tower of Terror. "Were they back again?"

Her eyes flew open and she glared at him and pushed him away. "You jerk, you did that just to try and get me talking." She continued to glare at him, pissed that he'd done to her exactly what she would have done to him. "You overestimate the affect you have on me, my friend."

He looked smugly back, that familiar cocky grin on his lips. "No, I just underestimate your stubbornosity."

"Stubbornosity?" Nadia asked with her arms crossed and one brow arched high.

"You heard me," Dean replied. Slowly Nadia gave up and let herself smile, that is until Dean opened his mouth again. "Well? Were they?" He asked again and reached for her cheek, she slapped his hand away.

"No." He stared at her with his human lie detector face on but she was telling the truth. _They_ weren't in her dream, only Castiel was.

He looked skeptical, "What did you dream about?" He did a horrible job at trying to sound nonchalant.

"Ireland," she replied shortly.

"Ireland?"

"Yes, Ireland. What did you dream about last night?" She crossed her arms and looked hard back at him.

"You," he smiled slyly.

She rolled her eyes, "You are so full of it."

He laughed and they started for the diner's front door. Dean took her hand, "Why Ireland?"

"Because it's beautiful," she answered like he was an idiot for even asking. He got a thoughtful look on his face and she got a sly look in her eye just before she sent the images from her dream down her arm, up through his and into his head. He stumbled and a glazed look appeared in his eyes as he tried to blink away the sudden movie playing in his head. The effect of the Ireland countryside overlaying transparently over the diner was dizzying and he closed his eyes.

Nadia calmly and slowly pulled the dream away from him before the part where Castiel showed up. Dean looked over at her and shook his head in awe, "I'm never gonna get used to that."

She snorted, "I should hope not. If you do, you have some real problems buddy."

Sam sat in a booth with his hands wrapped around a half empty coffee cup. He looked up when Nadia and Dean came through the door, hand in hand. He was really and truly happy for his brother, Dean deserved any happiness he could find. That didn't mean the twinge in the pit of his stomach didn't rear its ugly head in jealousy though. He was supposed to happy with Jess, he was supposed to have a steady job at a law firm free of monsters, and he was supposed to grow old in a modest house with a picket fence. There were a lot of supposed to's in his life and every now and then the reminder came like a crushing blow and was hard to shake. He knew that what he and Dean did everyday was right and good, it saved lives; but that didn't mean that sometimes he didn't wish he had someone other than his brother and Bobby that he could share everything with.

Dean slide in after Nadia in the booth opposite him with a sigh. Sam caught his eye with an unspoken question, "Is everything alright? Did she have any more angel dreams?" Dean responded with a slight head shake and a small smile and Sam felt a little bit of relief.

The waitress came back with their orders and topped off Sam and Dean's coffee before trudging over to the next table. She was nice enough but obviously tired; she looked like she'd been at this awhile. She'd long ago gave up on her looks, wisps of hair stuck out around her face from sweat and she didn't have an ounce of makeup on her deeply wrinkled face. Nadia watched her leave, she could almost see the woman the waitress used to be; happy and flirtatious because that's what got the big tips.

"So how much longer until we get to Bobby's?" Nadia asked while licking a spot of sausage gravy from her bottom lip.

Dean looked over at her from the corner of his eye and Sam smiled softly, "It's like traveling with an eight year old."

Nadia glared back at him but he was still looking at his scrambled eggs, "I haven't asked that often."

Dean looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he pulled the map out of his pocket and dropped it on the table between their plates. He had a feeling Nadia was going to ask that very question when they stopped; after all, she'd asked about every two hours in the car before finally falling asleep. "We're in Thedford, Nebraska."

She picked up the map and threw a glance his way while knocking her knee against his. He looked over with a smile, "Can we play footsy after I finish eating? I'm starving."

She ignored him and unfolded the map so that Wyoming was dead center. Her eyes traced the highway all the way to Sioux Falls. _Demons do not walk in heaven. _Nadia jumped when Castiel's voice suddenly sounded in her head. She spun around expecting him to be standing behind her but of course there was no one there.

Sam and Dean had both dropped their forks and were staring at her with startled and worried expressions. She noticed Dean's hand had slid inside his jacket for his favorite white handled handgun. An awkward laugh rose to her lips, "It must have been my hair. I thought something was crawling on me." She shifted and tried to ignore the rock that had returned to her stomach, "So, the map shows me how far we still have to go, but it doesn't tell me how long it'll take."

Dean kept staring at her worriedly. "About six hours," his voice was monotone but he didn't mention the fact that she never touched her neck when she turned. It is an automatic reaction to feeling something crawling on you but she didn't even move to check the back of her neck for something creepy crawly. The lie was written all over her face and the lack of trust was eating away at him.

Nadia nervously folded the map and pushed her plate away. "Six hours, wow. I guess I should go to the bathroom before we leave." She scooted closer to Dean so he would take the hint and let her out but he didn't move. "Can you let me out, please? I have to pee."

Dean moved out of her way but grabbed her wrist before she could get away. His eyes were probing, "Are you sure you're alright?"

She shrugged a bit manically, "Of course. I just have to pee," and she walked away.

Nadia pushed out of the stall and washed her hands as if on autopilot. A woman came out from the other stall and said hello but she was too distracted to reply. The sound of the bathroom door closing and bouncing a couple of times before settling, snapped her out of her trance.

Her fingers were gripping the sides of the sink so tightly, her knuckles were white. She pried them away from the porcelain but they immediately started shaking. Red colored her flushed cheeks when she looked up at herself in the mirror and she felt like she was having a hot flash. She splashed water on her face and dried her hands before walking over to lock the bathroom door. When she returned to the sink, she stared at her reflection. The worry and fear and depression of this new-found knowledge showed all over her face and she knew she was fooling herself thinking she was pulling the wool over Sam and Dean's eyes. They knew something was drastically wrong. They had to.

_Demons do not walk in heaven._

She spun around and slammed open the stall door and fell to her knees just as her stomach clenched and forced up her entire breakfast. When she had nothing left to expel, she collapsed against the stall's wall with her eyes closed. She barely heard herself when she whispered, "I'm going to Hell," to the empty walls.

Her eyes flew open and she stared at the wall across from her covered with phone numbers and nasty comments about people she didn't know. "I'm going to Hell," she whispered a little louder. Rolling up onto her knees, she touched her finger to the phone number of some girl's ass of an ex-boyfriend and when she took it away, the metal was burnt as if a torch had been held there. She leaned closer and slowly wrote, _Hell_, into the flimsy metal. The word burned brightly into the wall and her mind and after a minute or two, she stood and walked to the door. As she moved to unlock the door, she noticed ash on the end of her finger and went back to wash it off, rubbing it all away with a brown paper towel.

She could feel Dean waiting for her outside the door; could tell exactly where he was standing and how he had his arms and legs crossed, debating whether or not to barge into the ladies room. For a second, she resented him; she didn't want to be face with anything more at the moment. With a deep breath, she turned the lock and stepped out to find Dean exactly where she knew he'd be, looking at her exactly like she knew he'd look at her. She stifled a sigh when he jumped away from the wall.

"Nadia," he grabbed her by the arm, "stop lying to me."

Halfheartedly, she looked up at him and said, "I'm not…"

"Yes," he gripped her harder and glanced around him, forcing her backward so they were completely hidden behind the wall that separated the bathrooms from the bar itself, "you are." She winced at the anger in his voice and the force with which he was holding her. He had her back against the wall, blocking her escape with his body. In any other circumstance, the way they were standing would appear sexy, lustful, but not now; she felt trapped and had to fight the urge to burn his hand off from her. "Dammit, Nadia, you look like you're being eaten from the inside out. What the hell is going on?" He growled his voice low but powerful.

She flinched and refused to look at him. "You're hurting me." He didn't let go. She turned her gaze upon his hard, cold glare, "You're. Hurting. Me."

His eyes dropped to his hand on her arm and his jaw clenched when he let her go. "Just tell me what's going on," he almost sounded defeated but she could still see the anger and protectiveness rolling off him.

She wanted to tell so badly but she knew that he'd blame himself. He'd assume she was going to hell because of the position he put her in; because of the deal he'd made. He'd never accept that it was solely because of what she was. But she had to tell him something, so she said the first thing that came to mind, "I think something's wrong. It's Aidan," and suddenly she realized she wasn't lying anymore, she was worried something had been screwed up ever since that first dream. "Ever since Castiel pulled her out of me in that dream… I barely feel her anymore. I haven't heard from her in…awhile. I don't feel right."

Dean looked taken aback and didn't know what to say. Finally he looked relieved, excited even. "Maybe this is good. Maybe it means she's going away."

Nadia was already shaking her head. "I know you don't like her, don't trust her; but she's a part of me, Dean and something is messed up. I don't feel right. It feels like a piece of me is missing." She dropped her shining eyes to the floor, "I'm scared, Dean. What if something's really wrong with me?"

Dean pulled her against himself and wrapped his arms protectively around her. "There is nothing wrong with you. You're perfect," he said against the top of her head.

She laughed dryly, unshed tears tightening her throat. "If I'm perfect, then you must be God-like."

She could feel him smile against her hair. "Well…" She reached up and smacked him upside the back of the head as best she could.


	41. Chapter 41

The three of them were packed back into the Impala and back on the road again. Dean kept glancing back at Nadia and she was about to snap at him. Instead, she closed her eyes and tried to find Aidan. Like earlier, there were short spurts when Nadia felt twinges of emotions—mostly sarcasm—from Aidan but it had been a long time since she'd actually heard her speak.

Nadia relaxed herself one muscle at a time. It was a slow process. Finally, when she felt like she was verging on falling asleep, she combed through her head like she was flipping through a filing cabinet. She jumped to everything she could remember about the last time they'd talked before the dream. She thought back to the police station when she and Aidan had been commenting on Officer Carter's violent and perverted thoughts. Aidan had felt so present then, where could she have went? What could have happened to her since then? There was only so much space for her to hide in a brain.

Nadia quit trying to think of her brain as a page in a _Where's Waldo_ book and instead focused on what she always felt coming from Aidan. Sarcasm… Annoyance… Excitement… Hate… Bloodlust… Darkness… Something pulled at her from somewhere to her left. Her eyes flew open and she didn't know what it was that pulled at her; but she knew it wasn't coming from inside her. Something attracted her from somewhere close by. "Stop the car," she mumbled while looking around the landscape outside of the car.

Dean glanced back distractedly, "What?"

"Stop the car."

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Dean slowed the car but didn't stop it.

"I don't know, just stop the car." Dean started to ask why again but Nadia said, "Stop the car,' with more force this time.

"No. Not until you tell me what is going on," Dean growled.

She threw up her hands and clenched her teeth together. She glared at him in a way that made his heart ratchet higher. "I'm giving you one last chance, Dean. Stop the damn car." Her voice was ice.

Instead of slamming on the brakes like she wanted him to, he opened his mouth again and she'd had enough. She slammed her hands down on the shoulders of the front seats and yelled, "Stop!" Sam's arms shot out in front of him, bracing him against the dashboard, like he knew what was coming. The car stopped on a dime, causing them all to jerk forward. Nadia's and Sam's arms stopped them from smashing into anything but Dean wasn't so lucky. His forehead slammed into the steering wheel, almost knocking him unconscious.

"Son of a-!" Dean yelled, his hand lying across his forehead. A couple drops of blood dripped down beneath his fingers and down the bridge of his nose. "What the hell, Nadia!" He spun around to face her.

The heat that had flashed through her had receded, leaving her short of breath. She blinked a few times to clear away the feeling of rage and then she noticed Dean's face. A drip of blood hung off the tip of his nose and her stomach dropped. Her voice came out shaky, "Oh God. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…to hurt you." She glanced at Sam because she usually saw comfort there but he looked as aghast as Dean. Her eyes dropped to her hands which still gripped the seats. "You wouldn't stop…" she said softly.

Words seemed to be bubbling up from Dean's throat unconsciously, "Shit, Nadia!"

"I'm sorry," she replied. "Are you okay?" Her hand reached out to gently probe his forehead but he jerked away from her and she froze; it felt like he'd just slapped her across the face.

Dean stared at her for a beat or two before throwing the door open, "Shit." He slammed the gear shift into park and climbed out.

Nadia watched him get out and then glanced over at Sam who was also watching his brother. Sam slid his gaze over to look at her out the corner of his eyes. She looked away and slid over to follow Dean out onto the empty asphalt. She carefully shut the door behind her and leaned against it, watching Dean pace away from her.

"If you'd just stopped," she sighed.

He spun around, astounded. "Are you kidding me! I'm _bleeding_ and you want to say it's my fault?"

"Of course not!"

"Really, because that's _exactly _what it sounds like you're saying."

"I'm not. It's just…I asked you to stop. I asked you again and again," she pounded the side of her hand into the palm of the other, "but you wouldn't do it."

"Because you wouldn't tell me why!" He threw his hands up and slammed them down against his hips.

She pushed herself off the car and took a couple of steps toward him. "Because I don't _know_ why! I felt something and I needed to go and see what it was; but I couldn't tell you why I wanted—needed you to stop."

"God, Nadia, I so tired of trying to…pry things out of you. I'm tired of hearing you say those same three words _all _the time. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know!"

"Well, I'm sorry but that's all I have."

"That's it?" He looked at her hard, "You're being completely honest? You're not hiding anything from me?"

She looked him right in the eye but it took just a second to long for the lie to work its way out of her mouth. "No."

His eyes narrowed in accusation, "You're lying to me. It seems like that's all you do; tell me lie after lie. Is it about the angels? Aidan? The deal? Everything?"

"You're one to talk! You didn't say anything about the deal you made for Sam. If he hadn't told me, would I have ever found out or would you have just taken off?"

"You mean like you did?"

Nadia looked away and watched the weeds move in the wind for a little while. She looked back at him, "I'm here now."

"Yeah," he laughed humorlessly. "With a trail of bodies and," he pointed at his forehead, "blood behind you."

She gasped, it felt like she'd been stabbed in the stomach. Hot tears formed in her eyes but she bit down to keep them back. She swallowed thickly, "Don't worry, next time you make a deal at a crossroads, I'll be sure to let you die."

She saw Dean squeeze his eyes shut and his whole body sag before she spun around and started to walk away. Her body was shaking and darkness seemed to be pressing in around her, she could see it out the corners of her eyes. She was barely keeping it at bay.

"Nadia, I didn't mean-" Dean started but she spun around to face him again.

"No." She could feel her palms growing warmer and warmer; any minute now and the flames would come. "What is it that really upsets you, Dean? The fact that I can't tell you what I don't know or that I stopped your precious little Impala with a thought? Ever since I left you have hated everything I'm discovering about myself more and more as I figure it out." She licked her lips but didn't take her penetrating gaze from him. "You can tell me how you trust me and love me all you want; but when it comes down to it, with you, I'm not human. To you I'm just a demon."

She hesitated, hoping he would say something; tell her she was wrong…something that would change it. He said nothing. He did nothing. Like a sudden gust of wind, all the darkness whooshed out of her and she felt empty. She looked away and laughed morosely through her nose. When she looked back at him, he looked away. She stared at the side of his head before blinking and walking away.

It wasn't their first fight, it wasn't even their first fight about this very subject, but it felt different. While the darkness and rage had been flooding through Nadia, images had flashed through her head; Dean covered in flames she'd thrown at him, Dean sailing through the air before falling to the asphalt, killed by the blow to his head, Dean dropping dead by a single thought. It was always Dean dying and it was always her killing. She was still shaking with the effort it had taken to shut out those urges. Something was definitely wrong and it wasn't just Aidan who was being affected.

Dean watched Nadia grow smaller and smaller as she walked away down the side of the road. His chest was still heaving from the anger and frustration she had brought out of him. He could sense Sam staring at him and it made him want to just walk away too. "Shit," he spun around, kicking at the immobile asphalt and clutching his head in his hands.

After a short time he growled a sigh and stomped over to the car. He yanked the door open and dropped himself inside. Sam inhaled and Dean threw up his hand to stop him, "Don't."

Instead of words, Sam's breath turned into a sigh. Dean pulled the car off the road as much as he could and they sat in silence for a long time. "Dean-," Sam started.

"I don't want to hear it, Sammy."

"Dean, she's walking down the side of the road in the middle of nowhere."

"What's your point?" Dean was sitting with his head back against the seat and his eyes closed.

Sam turned in the seat to better face his brother. "She said she felt something, Dean. Who knows what that could be?"

Dean snorted, "Not her that's for sure." Sam rolled his eyes. Dean peaked out the corner of his eyes. He groaned, "What are we supposed to do about it? She can create fire in the palms of her hands, throw an axe across the room with only her mind…she can freaking teleport, Sammy! What does she need us for?"

"Ah," Sam tipped his head back, "so that's what this is about."

"What?"

Sam shrugged, "She makes you feel unneeded. Emasculated."

Dean's hand flew up, "Whoa! What?"

"Come on, Dean, this isn't the first time you've brought up this same question. You're used—we're both used to being needed; to being the one to save the day. Now the girl you feel the most obligated to save, doesn't need you to save her. She can save herself and she can do it faster and clean than either of us could."

Dean's jaw muscles jumped. "That's not the problem. I know she can take care of herself, big deal. I don't have a problem with that," he avoided looking Sam in the eye. "It's refreshing." He looked out the windshield after a quick glance in the rearview mirror. "She's hiding something from both of us. I mean, the apocalypse, Sammy?"

"How many times have you kept things from me? Or I've kept things from you? And we've almost always done it in an effort to keep the other safe. Do you really think she's keeping whatever it is from us to hurt us?"

"Yeah, we've kept things from each other before. And look how it's _always _turned out. Our entire family has always kept secrets from each other and now all that's left of us, it you and me."

"Okay so," he ticked off on his fingers the points he made, "not being needed, keeping secrets…not being human. Did I miss anything? Cause, Dean," he hesitated, "you just described me."

"Dammit Sammy, you're human! How many times do we have to go over this?"

"Dean, I've known complete strangers were going to die before it actually happens. I may not be half demon, like Nadia, but I'm a freak just the same. And I've keep things from you. And I…kick ass all by myself. Nadia and I aren't so different."

Nadia walked along the road, kicking gravel and mumbling things to herself she wanted to say to Dean. When she looked up she saw that she was only a few yards from the road she'd been pulled to turn onto back in the car. This was where Dean should have stopped, she told herself. A quick glance down the dry dirt road showed her an old white farm house about a mile or two away. She jumped across the ditch and short-cutted across the corner of a field.

_Aidan? _She fixed her ponytail and wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. "What the hell did they do to me?" She asked herself. Halfway to the house she looked back over her shoulder and the Impala was still parked where she'd left it. Resolutely, she focused back on the house in front of her.

Like a flickering memory lurking just out of reach, that same dark pull nagged at her as she placed one foot in front of the other. The closer she got, the darker the feeling grew and she started to second guess her blind determination; who knew what she was walking into? Annoyance settled over her because of the realization being so close to what Dean had kept pointing out. She didn't know what this feeling was and she didn't know what awaited her once she stepped onto that porch.

With a frustrated sigh, she stepped back down into the ditch and sat on the side facing the road. Her hand distractedly twisted her hair around and around her hand while she thought. She collapsed back onto the grass, the slope of the ditch still keeping her somewhat upright. _Thunk_, an idea dropped into her head. _Duh, why didn't I think of that before?_

She cleared her throat and cautiously called out, "Themi?" Nothing; she repeated herself more assuredly but still got nothing. She closed her eyes and relaxed herself just like she'd done in the car. _Themi. _She pictured her mind stretching out like radar, further and further out until a faint blip appeared. Just like what she felt coming from the old farm house down the road, Themi's blip was dark and suddenly Nadia had a fairly good idea of what was drawing her to that house.

The blip disappeared and just as quickly, the smell of sulfur filled her nostrils. When she opened her eyes, she was met by the appearance of Themi standing at her feet and glaring at her.

Her voice dropped low, "You rang." She was hiding her natural orange eyes under an artic blue. This new body was younger than the last one; dressed in tight jeans and a loose blouse covered in large purple flowers. The wardrobe in contrast to what she was almost Nadia want to laugh.

Nadia jumped up and brushed off her hands and the butt of her jeans. "You came."

She lifted one brow, "You called." The way she replied made Nadia feel like she was an idiot to think she wouldn't have come.

"Right," she sighed and glanced down at her hands, still stained with damp dirt, "my dad."

Themi groaned and turned to drop down onto the grass right next to where Nadia had been when she'd arrived. "How you've survived this long is beyond me." Nadia scowled at her and sat down beside her. "I didn't come just because of the promise I made with your dad. You're the Antichrist, Nadia. To the demonic world, that means something. When you called like you did, I had no choice but to come. None of us would."

Nadia stared at her, "You mean I can…summon demons to me? That easily?"

"Yup and if anyone else finds out that you've realized you have this little quirk, you'll have a _lot _of trouble coming your way." Nadia looked questioningly at her and Themi rolled her eyes. "You're sleeping with the enemy and you have the ability to summon demons to you with the flip of a switch…"

Her shoulders sagged, "Right." Then Nadia remembered, "But they can't come after me. I specifically said so in the deal I made. They can't come after me, Dean, or Sam."

"True. They can't come after you specifically to stop you from completing the deal. They can't go after Dean to kill him before the deal goes through. And they can't go after Sam because…well, because you have a bleeding heart."

Nadia's mouth hung slack while she stared across the road and the field beyond. "But they can hunt me down for other reasons."

"Which they wouldn't have reason to do if you weren't bumping uglies with the Winchesters."

She cringed, "It wasn't both of them."

Themi perked up, "Wasn't? As in past tense?"

Nadia ignored her and looked at the house, "There's something in there." Themi looked over her shoulder. "I feel it, like I felt you, but it's different."

"Different how?" She looked genuinely curious.

"You were just like this…spot somewhere. What I feel from there is like a pull; an urge to go there. I was on my way there when I realized I had no idea what I was feeling or what I could stumble into. So I called you."

Themi kept staring at the house, "Well, I can't tell you what's in there or what you're feeling because I can't feel it; but I can say that the only way you can find out is to go see for yourself."

Nadia swallowed hard, "I kind of thought you'd say that." She turned to Themi, "Oh and by the way, I also have angels after me too, so…"

Themi's brows lifted, "Already?"

"What do you mean 'already?' How long have you known about this?"

"Pff, they've been talking about the Apocalypse for, like, forever now. I was starting to think it wasn't ever gonna happen."

"And you didn't think to mention this before?" Nadia asked, aghast.

Themi glared, "I've been around awhile and I've heard a lot of things and most of them have came and went. It's like the Loch Ness Monster; you hear about it and see the so-called evidence and you watch closely for a long time thinking, 'it'll happen, they'll find it someday.' And then years and years pass without anything more than pictures and you change to, 'if they haven't found anything by now, there must not be anything to find.' The talk becomes nothing more than background noise."

Nadia narrowed her eyes, "Are you really comparing the end of the world to the Loch Ness Monster?" Themi shrugged and Nadia shook her head and laughed morosely. Nadia grew serious, "What about Dean and Sam?"

Themi sneered, "What about them?"

"The angels said that they're real important to this whole apocalypse thing. Do you know why?"

"No. The only way a human would be important to the apocalypse, is meat suit."

Nadia thought of Castiel and Uriel. "You mean like, a vessel?"

Themi shrugged, "That's what they call them. Personally I think it's a little posh for well, what they are."

"Vessels… Why does it _have _to be them though?"

"Well," Themi stood and wiped her hands on the thighs of her jeans, "angels can't rent out just any one. You have to have a certain, je ne sais quoi. That is one hitch we don't have to worry about."

Nadia was staring at the ground and chewing on her thumb nail. She froze, "Lucifer is an angel."

"Technically," Themi replied distractedly but her curiosity was piqued.

"Who's Lucifer supposed to fight?"

"Michael… Wait, you don't think they're, _thee _vessels do you?"

She looked up at the demon, "Would you know? If they were?" Themi stared down at her but didn't respond. Nadia jumped up to get in her face, "Did you know!" Her palms tingled and heated and Themi took a step back. Her eyes shifted to orange.

"Things like this get planned very, _very _early, Nadia. I'm old, yes, but I didn't have a hand in everything that's ever happened."

"You said our family runs hell!"

"Not always. It's like a constant cock fight down there; changes in power happen all the time. Besides," she pushed right back into Nadia's face, "it's not like both got together to plan everything out. The only time they put us into play, is the end. Now," she added tersely, "if you're done, I'll be on my way."

The heat from Nadia's palm moved into her chest and grew. Her body was as tense as the muscles on an angry bull, "Then go!" With her words, the heat flew out of her and Themi flew back as if she were strapped into one of those harnesses stunt men use in movie explosion scenes. She was gone.

Nadia mumbled, "I'm such a freak."


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

The house and everything around it was quiet; too quite. No birds called from the trees, the wind even seemed to avoid the place. The porch creaked quietly when Nadia climbed the stairs. The pull to go inside was almost too much to bear. She had to fight the urge to kick the door down and jump in head-long. She debated on whether to knock or mentally pick the lock and hope for the element of surprise. When she settled on a decision, the lock clicked open as she touched the doorknob.

She held her breath and slowly pushed open the door but it opened silently. The house was dark inside except for where sunlight lit blocks on the old wood floors and dust motes floated in the air. She closed her eyes and listened hard until she heard sounds coming from a room on the second floor. Heat gathered in her chest and her hand started to tingle as she climbed the stairs. Every molecule of her body alert to any displaced sound or shadow.

Nothing happened when she reached the landing and looked down the hallway. Two rooms branched off from both sides of the hall but only one was open. She crept down to the second door on the right where someone was grunting and sounds of scrapes and bangs floated in the air. Her lungs stopped as she peeked around the doorframe and saw a young man about 18 years old tied to a chair, his head hanging and his chest rising and falling with exhaustion. A quick glance around showed no one else in the room so she quietly hurried inside; keeping her defenses on high alert.

The boy lifted his head and his eyes widened for a second, "Help me, please. They're trying to kill me." He pleaded and stretched forward as far as he could in the bindings.

She'd learned to be cautious and kept her distance, "Who?"

"I don't know! They hit me over the head and tied me up here. I don't know where they went, please untie me before they come back! Please." He was starting to cry.

Nadia glanced around to look for any signs that said he was lying and found nothing. She shut the door quietly behind her and hurried to untie him. "Did they say anything to you about why they'd come after you? Did you know them?"

"No. They just kept telling me that they were going to kill me." The last knot came free and he rubbed his wrists and looked her over. Satisfied he was alright, she started for the door but stopped a few feet away when it felt like someone stabbed her. She cried out and dropped to her knees, doubled over in pain. She gasped and heard the boy step up beside her. "What are you?" She turned to look up over her shoulder at him and found him studying her with shock and curiosity.

She tried to move forward and get away from him because his gaze made her uncomfortable. Something was wrong here, she just didn't know what it was and could barely breathe, let alone solve a mystery she didn't have all the pieces to. Her arms gave out on her and she fell flat on the floor, unable to move forward. She closed her eyes and tried to put the pain out of her head and concentrate on the immediate problem; her debilitating pain. She thought of the holy water-laced drink at the bar back in Michigan but the effects were too different. _But they worked on Aidan,_ she realized. Her hand reached out and curled around the edge of the rug she was lying on and pulled in back. Sure enough, a devil's trap lie beneath.

She pushed herself back until the pain subsided and she could breathe again. She shakily stood and looked back at the boy who still watched her with wide eyes. _"Run,"_ Aidan's voice came faintly to mind, almost more of a feeling than actual words. Nadia glanced around the room one more time and shifted her weight, throwing herself through the invisible barrier. Pain shot through her entire body, making her feel like she was being torn in two. She landed hard outside the ring and immediately passed out.

When she came to, she was tied to another chair and two hunters stood in front of her with their arms crossed; one man and one woman. She noticed rings on their fingers; husband and wife…_how romantic._

The man fidgeted with the gun in his hand, "Who are you?"

She licked her lips and hurriedly searched for the best response to get her out of this mess. "I'm a hunter."

The woman's eyes narrowed but the man smiled ruefully. "Not a very good one."

Nadia looked to her right and found the demon boy sitting beside her, watching her with that still curious look. She wished he would stop staring at her like she was the freak. She swallowed, "I underestimated him."

The man lifted one brow condescendingly, "Like I said, not a very good one."

The woman looked from her husband to Nadia, "My husband likes to believe the best in everyone. I don't even believe you're a hunter."

Nadia stared at her, "You've heard of the Winchesters?" I seemed like every hunter had heard of the Winchesters and by the widening of her eyes, it was obvious she had too. Nadia nodded to the front of the house, "That's their car out on the main road."

The two hunters exchanged a glance and he nodded at his wife who went to look out the window. "There's a car out there. Looks old." Nadia stifled a relieved sigh. They exchanged a glance again and she nodded. The man took out a flask and Nadia knew what was coming. Holy water. As long as they didn't force her to ingest the stuff, this was her ticket to freedom… Well, once she figured out how to get them to break the trap without raising their suspicions again.

The water was warm from being kept in the inside pocket of his jacket. Her hair stuck to her face but nothing happened. They watched her for a short time longer, like maybe the water just needed time to take effect. When still nothing happened, he sighed and came forward. He reached down toward the ties but silver flashed and her skin stung as the knife sliced into her flesh. She inhaled through her teeth and tried not to jerk back too much and cause him to cut her further.

He glanced back at his wife and cut the ties on her wrists. Nadia dropped her shoulders with relief. She stood and looked over at the possessed boy who sat with his mouth gaping open, his eye flashing from the man to the woman. "You can't be serious!" He spat. "She's not a hunter! She's…she's…well I don't know what she is but she isn't one of you."

Nadia tried not to react too much to his words but fire started in her stomach and warmed her palms. The man looked from Nadia to the demon, not sure what to believe. Nadia swallowed, "Oh, like I haven't heard that before," she said sarcastically.

The demon's eyes flew around like he was looking for help from the items around him. His head snapped back to them, "She was trapped! Before you got back here, she was trapped! She-she got out somehow but that's why she was passed out on the ground."

The man stepped back and looked at Nadia with his eyes narrowed. "Well that's easy enough to test." He swept his arm out to let her pass. She glared at the demon and looked nervously at the ground where she could just see the paint sticking out passed the rug.

"I told you! I told you, she's not what she appears to be!" The demon yelled in triumph. Nadia didn't know what he was so happy about; affected by the trap or not, he wasn't getting out of this alive. Before she could say anything, the man's gun slammed into the side of her head and everything went black again.

She felt like she was being pulled apart; like she was attached to one of those medieval torture devices and she couldn't escape. She screamed and tried to open her eyes to see where she was but all she saw was darkness. She couldn't take it anymore. She let go and darkness mercifully came into her mind again.

Aidan's eyes flickered open, pain still radiating through her body. She felt warm air on her face and it smelled like spearmint and alcohol. "What the hell are you?" The voice sounded vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it. She forced her eyes to stay open longer and only then realized she could open them at all. She was in control of the body she was in; Nadia was missing.

She felt both elated and troubled by the discovery but pieces started coming back and her attention focused on the situation at hand. "Let me go," she mumbled softly.

The man laughed and it made her mad. Anger seemed to fortify her and she started to feel whole again. Her strength was coming back fast and when it did, these two humans were going to cower in fear of her. Because she was in total control and there was nothing anyone could do about it. "Let me go." Her voice was stronger. He looked down at her with a give-me-a-break grin. "Let me go or I will do it myself and things will be very unpleasant for the two of you if I do."

They stepped back but left her tied to the chair. It was made of simple wood; easy to break, easy to burn. She started to smile, "You know what, I'm actually kind of glad you hunters are too stubborn to listen to anyone else; it's been too long and I'm dying to," she smirked, thinking of the two angels who had kept her away for so long, "stretch my wings."

The hunters glanced at one another as a breeze started in the closed-up house. It was light at first, like a cooling breeze on a hot summer day but it grew quickly. Nadia's and the woman's hair started to swirl with the wind as it whipped around the room. The sky grew dark and thunder started to roll so fast there was nothing natural about the storm that had rolled in. The hunters backed away and gripped their weapons tightly. The demon beside her ducked and curled in on himself but watched the hunters fear with a smile on his face. Lightning struck a tree outside the window and the woman screamed.

Aidan smiled and the arms of the chair started to glow like embers. She pulled the ties that held her there and the arms of the chair fell to the floor, crumbling to burnt coals. She reached down and touched on finger to the ropes around her ankles and the threaded smoked and snapped away. The hunters were squatting in the corner by the door with their guns pointed at her. They couldn't hold them steady long enough to pull the trigger, the wind was too strong.

Aidan stood and looked at them, "You're lucky I have a soft spot for hunters at the moment." She sighed, the fear in their eyes enough to satisfy her craving for control and domination. She turned to the demon still tied to the chair. He watched her in awe, "It's you…"

She smiled bright, "It's me." He looked hopeful that he was going to be let go to extract his revenge on the hunters that had captured him until he started to choke. His eyes widened with shock as smoke started to come out of his mouth and move to Aidan's outstretched hand. He convulsed and made gagging noises until the smoke was completely free of him and the body he'd been in collapsed. The demon smoke circled and circled in her palm and the hunters watched with avid fascination. She squeezed her fist closed and in a blinding flash, the smoke was gone.

She made a face and wiped her hands together and on her jeans. Her palms are black, "That is going to stain my skin for days." She looked disdainfully at the empty dead body and when she turned back to the hunters, the man had his gun pointed at her chest. The wind had disappeared when her focus had turned to exercising the demon and his hands were steady—or as steady as they could have been after what he'd witnessed. She gaped at him, "Really?"

"What are you?" he couldn't help asking, his voice a little shaky. The woman still cowered in the corner with her hands folded in front of her and Aidan realized she was praying. She wanted to laugh.

Aidan sighed, "Pissed." She eyed the gun, "No good deed goes unpunished, huh?" The hunter pressed the gun harder against his shoulder, ready to shoot. Aidan shook her head and pursed her lips in annoyance. She reached out her arms as if she were going to embrace the two. The man flinched just long enough for her to smack her hands together. The hunters lifted off their feet and slammed into each other, head to head. They fell to the ground unconscious. She sighed again and shook her head, "_So_ ungrateful."

The moment she stepped onto the porch, the Impala came purring to a stop in the driveway. She looked at it and for a split second, got the annoying tingling of excitement she always got whenever he was around—Nadia in control or not, the feelings still burned brightly. Then she remembered the fight Nadia and he had had before she walked into this mess and her eyes dropped to the ground. Dean was already angry enough with Nadia; Aidan didn't want to see the look in his eyes when he realized she had taken over.

Sam was out of the car first of course because Dean was still pouting in the driver's seat. Sam looked her over and she was grateful that he was still oblivious to when she changed. Dean lumbered around the car, "See, Sammy, I told you she was fine. Lightning struck a tree…it happens."

_So that's what drew their attention, _Aidan glanced to the corner of the house where the scorched tree lie around the corner. Sam ignored his brother, "Are you alright?" He was almost to the porch by then and Aidan glanced quickly from him to Dean.

"Like he said, I'm fine."

Sam jumped onto the porch, ignoring the stairs with his long legs, and looked at her with furrowed brows. "Did you figure out what drew you here?"

She looked back at him, trying to decide whether to come clean or not. If she did, it was just another thing to push Dean further away. Then again, she snapped at herself, she's a demon and demons don't take into consideration the feelings of the humans around her. "It was a demon. It's dead."

Sam glanced back at Dean and even Dean perked up a little. _Of course he did, he's a _demon _hunter. He'd hunt you if it weren't for his twisted thing for Nadia._ She swallowed down the nasty words that came to mind—no need to getting them thinking about who was running this meat suit any earlier than necessary.

"What was it doing here?"

She sighed and rubbed her palms on her jeans, trying to get more demon smoke residue off. "Hiding out," the lie came easily to her lips. "Word about the angels is getting out and he thought the middle of nowhere was the best place to be."

Dean was staring hard at her, "And how did you kill it? You don't have the colt on you."

Aidan felt herself slipping as she glared back at him. "As you are so fond of pointing out, I don't need it."

He lifted one brow, "Last I knew you did."

"Yeah well, I'm learning as I go along."

He stared at her for a couple more seconds until she dropped her gaze and he started laughing. It wasn't a nice laugh. "_Really?_" She met his eyes again to see what he was talking about. "We have a fight and she takes off…vacates the premises and lets you take over?"

Sam snapped his head in her direction and moved a step away. "Aidan." Sometimes he annoyed her with his knack for doing that; stating the obvious like it was some big revelation.

She focused back on Dean and decided to come clean—to wipe that stupid, superior smile off his face. "I lied. The demon wasn't hiding out for his own protection. He was being held by two hunters—husband and wife. No, I didn't catch their names; they weren't really into sharing and yes, they're fine. Unconscious but alive. Nadia went in and got trapped in your favorite little circle but was able to get out with a lot of…pain on her part. And mine. She passed out and the hunters tied her to another chair. I was pulled to the surface when they tried excursing me and the other guy and she was nowhere to be felt. I got mad, created a bit of…lightning, killed the demon, and the hunters were about to kill me—even though I told them I wasn't going to kill _them_," she added in a voice tight with annoyance. "I knocked them, burned a break in the circle and here I am."

"You seriously expect me to believe that you let them live?" Dean stared at her some more and Aidan could feel heat building within her.

She glared right back at him and let herself go just enough to send him stumbling backward as if she'd pushed him in the chest. He looked at her with surprised eyes and she almost found that funny—if he hated her so much than why would he be surprised when she acted like a demon? And a pathetic one at that. She jumped off the porch and strode up to him. He backed away but she kept coming until his back was against the Impala. "Yes, I do! You arrogant, pathetic, ignorant, prejudiced _pig _with a superiority complex!"

Dean's eyes were wide and Sam kept trying to pull her back. "Nad—Aidan! Come on, back off, we all know he can be a jerk…"

Dean looked at his brother, betrayed, before wincing and grabbing Aidan's wrist. Only then did she realize her hand was pressed against the base of his throat and she was losing control of herself—her palm was growing too hot. She was about to force herself back, when that familiar feeling of dread washed over her. She started to turn but a searing pain shot through her middle and she froze with her eyes wide and her mouth open.

Everyone froze except Uriel. His jaw was clenched in triumph as the half-breed's blood ran over his fingers.

Dean looked down at the silver blade protruding for Aidan's stomach. When he looked back up, it wasn't Aidan he saw but Nadia looking back at him with tears in her eyes. Her breath came out ragged and she crumpled to the ground when the sword was yanked out and her body glowed like someone was holding a powerful flashlight to her back. The light went out and he dropped to his knees and was joined by Sam, who was already on the phone with 911.

Dean's hands shook as he tried to stop the bleeding. He barely heard Castiel's voice cutting through the air. "Uriel! These weren't our orders!"

"That's where you're wrong, Castiel." He spoke lazily and looked down on the dying half-breed with pride. "These were _my_ orders." Before Castiel could get out what he wanted to say, Uriel continued, "And they came from higher up than you. I was told to protect the vessels at all costs. It's just a perk that their attacker happened to be her." Castiel looked at him through narrowed, confused eyes and Uriel disappeared with a light breeze.

Sam hung up the phone and looked at the angel. "Heal her! You're an angel, do something." Dean looked up, he hadn't thought about that; all he could think about was the last time she lie unconscious in his arms. That had ended with her waking in a hospital bed; something told him this was different. His eyes burned with tears, these were angels after all, when an angel wants you dead there's no escaping it. A flicker of hope caught in his chest and he wondered if that was what Nadia felt when fire built in her.

Castiel looked from Sam to Dean to Nadia and back to Dean. "I can't. I'm sorry," he added on like an afterthought.

Dean started to jump to his feet but didn't want to spill Nadia onto the ground. "What do you mean you can't? You're an angel, this is what you do!"

Castiel dropped his eyes to the half-breed that he had just been beginning to grow fond of, "That wasn't an ordinary weapon…" He knelt and curiously touched Nadia's forearm, "It's called the Soul Sword. It's one of our most highly protected and most dangerous weapons because of what it does. It absorbs the soul, making it extremely powerful. It can only grow more powerful and cannot be destroyed. It was lost years ago and ended up in England; you probably know it was Excalibur. It is why the legend of the sword only grew as the years went on."

"Enough with the history lesson!" Dean snapped.

"I apologize. In essence," he looked up to meet Dean's eyes, "it kills the soul. I cannot bring back someone whose soul is dead."

"So that's it? She's just gone?" Sam asked.

Castiel looked back at Nadia's body and something occurred to him. "_Nadia_ is, yes."

The brothers heard the way he was so careful to stress Nadia's name. Dean clenched his fist around a handful of her hair and clenched his jaw. "You're saying that Aidan is still alive?" Sam snapped his head around to look at his brother and then back at Castiel.

"Yes." He paused, "I could heal her body, but it is important that you understand she will not be the same. Nadia is gone forever."

Dean clenched his teeth and put his forehead against Nadia's—_Aidan's_, he corrected himself and pulled away. "You're asking me if I want you to save the life of a demon so that she can go on living and doing God knows what in my girlfriend's body? If it wasn't for her, Nadia would still be alive."

"Perhaps."

Sam jumped in with something neither of them had thought about, "Dean, your deal. Look, I know she isn't the one you wanted out of this whole thing; but she can finish it."

Dean looked at his brother and he wanted to say that it wasn't worth the price but Nadia would've hated him for it. Her death didn't have to mean nothing; she wanted him saved more than anything.

Castiel looked over Nadia's familiar face, "We spoke and she had me convinced that Aidan wasn't like other demons. She was unique in that yours and Nadia's relationship caused Aidan to care for you as well. We also talked about her soul. I don't know what it is like for the souls trapped in the sword; but Nadia was headed to Hell anyway. She knew that the deal she made put her on a direct line there but she told me that what mattered most was you. Making sure you stayed alive."

Dean squeezed his eyes closed and clenched his jaw, "Dammit, Nadia." He thought for a few seconds more, until he heard ambulance sirens closing in. "Do it."

Castiel moved closer, "I need you to move back."

Dean carefully laid her head down on the ground and moved back a few inches; still unable to comes to grips with the fact that the girl lying on the ground was no longer Nadia. Castiel touched her forehead and the stab wound disappeared. The angel stood and Dean looked up at him, "He is going to die for what he did." No one needed clarification on who Dean was talking about so, as the ambulance came into view, Castiel vanished.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Dean sat outside the hospital wondering why he was still there. Nadia was gone and she wasn't coming back; but still, he couldn't bring himself to leave before seeing Aidan wake instead of her. He stared at the pitch black asphalt in the parking lot and thought, not for the first time, about the people who because of his presence in their lives, had died. Killed. Murdered. He was cursed, he had to be.

Nadia's eyes popped into his mind again and that feeling he always felt when she looked at him like that, like some sort of high, swept through him. He blinked the image away, shifting his focus onto something else. A couple climbed out of a blue foreign car and walked inside. Everything about them said "average," "plain," but he couldn't help the envy that flowed through him. Forcing himself to look away, he caught a change out the corner of his eye and when he turned, Castiel sat on the bench beside him. It never ceased to amaze him the normal things angels did.

"What do you want now?" He sounded accusing but he didn't care; Castiel's fault or not, he was never going to see Nadia look at him that way again.

Castiel looked over the parking lot like he had just come to rest before proceeding on somewhere else and hadn't even noticed Dean. Finally he opened his mouth but still spoke like he was talking to himself, "My…superiors thought Nadia would cause problems down the road. She was always a target."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? Cause I gotta say, your bedside manner could definitely use some work."

Castiel blinked slowly and again took his time responding. "I remember when the sword was just a powerful sword, not really that different from any other." Dean looked at him incredulously but Castiel continued before he could berate him again for his useless information. "There are a lot of souls in heaven but they're…used elsewhere so there was nothing to feed it, to strengthen it. Then it ended up down here and in the hands of a king trying to win the rule of a broken country. Thousands of people to fell at that sword and with each one, its power became greater. Only then did it catch our attention and we were able to get it back. Then it was so powerful the only angel God trusted it with was, Michael." He paused briefly, "It then became known as Michael's sword. The only way for Uriel to get his hands on it would be for Michael himself to give it to him." This time he paused for a long time while Dean processed what he'd said.

"There is more going on here then even I understand, Dean. From what I've come to find, she was never going to end up old and by your side. She was always going to end up dead. You and your brother are vessels," he turned to face Dean for the first time. "You as Michael and Sam as Lucifer. It's what you have been destined to become for centuries; it was _always_ going to come down to the two of you. The apocalypse. But a vessel has to freely give its consent in order to be filled. With Nadia around, you never would have given it and our side would have been doomed. Uriel and Michael and all the others grew desperate."

"And what about you?" Dean stared intently at Castiel. "Are you a murderer? Is it okay with you as long as you do it in the name of God? Cause there are a whole lot of people down here, humans down here, who have said the same thing; but they still ended up getting juiced in the execution chamber."

Castiel looked back at Dean, unsure what to say. "I can't deal with this right now," Dean went on to say. "First things, first. Uriel. So," he pretended to perk up, "what kills you guys anyway?" Castiel dropped his eyes and turned his head to look down at the asphalt between his knees. "Yeah, that's kind of what I figured," Dean sighed and looked back across the parking lot at the sound of a car door slamming. When he glanced back, Castiel was gone. Dean growled a sigh and rubbed his hand down his face. "More research," he mumbled. Another wave of grief swept over him, "I'll get him, Nadia, I swear."

"Dean, she's awake." Sam stood on the sidewalk, his chest rising and falling from hurrying down the stairs. Dean took one last glance around, not really expecting to see Castiel hiding somewhere but not sure he wouldn't either. He pushed his hands into his coat pockets and turned to follow Sam inside, when a thought occurred to him. Maybe the odd little angel hadn't been talking because he was a history buff; maybe he'd been trying to steer Dean in the right direction… He shook his head and dismissed the idea, _How in the hell would I get my hands on Michael's sword anyway? You know, without letting him shove himself down my throat? Do angels do that or is that just a demon thing?_

"That yours?" Sam's voice refocused Dean on the present and he looked over his shoulder to the bench where he'd been sitting. Something shined brightly on the seat where Castiel had been. When Dean walked back to see what it was, he was surprised to find a gleaming silver dagger on the worn wood. He looked around but still saw no one. When he picked it up a small zap like he was being shocked by a balloon tingled through his hand. The blade and hilt were engraved with symbols he'd never seen before and immediately he knew Castiel had left it behind for him. He gripped the hilt tighter before carefully slipping it inside his coat and silently thanking the angel whether it would reach him or not.

Aidan blinked and her vision was flooded with white; bright, unadulterated white. With each blink her eyes were able to stay open longer and the brightness faded until she saw a white ceiling and white walls. Upon closer inspection, the walls were a pale blue; not that she cared what colors the walls were, it was just that the whiteness was oddly depressing. An odd sound brought her attention to her right side where she saw Sam unfolding himself from a gray, thickly padded chair, to stand up.

He looked hesitant when he stepped forward, "Nadia?"

Aidan couldn't help making a snide remark to where ever Nadia was hidden away. _Even after being spurned, he's right at your bedside._ She waited for a reply but none came. Only then did she start to feel hollowness inside herself. She tried to sit up but memory came back to her and she froze. She'd been yelling at Dean, giving him a piece of her mind, when something had happened; she'd been thrown out of their shared body by something sharp and excruciatingly painful.

She'd been stabbed…but the memory wasn't hers; it was Nadia's, she'd taken over as soon as Aidan had been thrown back into the all-to-familiar far reaches of their shared mind. So where was she now?

"Nadia?" Sam repeated and Aidan focused on him; the worry on his face, so strong it was as if he already knew the bad news he was afraid to hear.

She blinked and covertly scanned the room for Dean but he was nowhere to be seen. That was it; all it took for her to realize something had drastically changed. Dean would never leave Nadia to wake in the hospital alone; not even with Sam there. She'd never understood the strength and longing humans had for emotions that would tear them apart—she didn't even understand the dim ones she'd felt herself—but she did understand that if Dean wasn't at her bedside than there was a reason; a powerful reason. "No," she finally answered Sam's question and sat up the rest of the way.

He moved back a couple inches, "Is she…"

Aidan stared at the wall in front of her as she came to understand what Sam was asking and what her answer was, "No." The word came out as a breath but it felt like it did whenever she used her abilities; she might as well have thrown an axe into the wall or created a thunderstorm—she knew what her words meant for Sam and Dean.

Sam stared at her in silence for a few beats before turning and walking out the door. She heard his footsteps fade down the hall and not long after they disappeared, a nurse bustled in with a meal tray in her hands. The nurse was middle-aged, with little to no makeup and hair easily swept back into a loose bun. She paused for half a second, surprised to find Aidan awake and sitting up.

"Well, good morning," she smiled so brightly, an overwhelming urge to throw her back into the wall, almost overtook Aidan. "How are you feeling?" She sat the tray on the table beside the bed and smiled.

Aidan put a hand to her abdomen, "Remarkably well for having been kabobed."

The nurse gave her an odd look, "Kabobed?"

Aidan was quickly losing patience with this woman. "Middle Eastern? Skewered meat and veggies? Grilled? Ringing any bells here?"

The nurse held up a hand, "Oh I know what shish kabobs are, dear." Aidan's jaw clenched at the word, "dear." "I love them. They're like an entire meal on a stick, they're fantabulous."

"Fantabulous," Aidan repeated with a mix of boredom and annoyance.

The nurse laughed and waved her off, "Sorry, I got sidetracked. What I was getting at was that you weren't _kabobed_. Those two boys found you unconscious on the side of the road. Now I have to ask, what in God's name," Aidan flinched, "did you have to be mad at the two of them for? Those boys are _gorgeous._"

Aidan ignored her, "Just unconscious?" This was the same hospital that had treated the now infamous Emmett Hale; but seriously how could they miss someone having been stabbed?

She fidgeted with a bag full of fluids and scribbled some numbers on a chart then returned it to the end of the bed. "Of course, sweetie." She looked at Aidan with pity, "I think you must have bumped your head when you passed out. You weren't kabobed…in fact you don't have a mark on you." And with that, she was out the door.

Aidan stared after her; it may have been Nadia's memory, but there was no way of missing the fact that she'd seen a silver blade sticking out of her abdomen covered in her, their, own blood. She pulled the hospital gown she had been put into, up over her legs, over her lavender underwear, and exposed her bare stomach. There was no blood or wound or even a scar—just smooth unblemished skin. "There's no way," she whispered to herself.

Still holding her gown in her hands, she slid off the bed and hurried into the bathroom. No pain stabbed through her as she moved and it felt wrong. She rolled onto her tip toes, flipped on the light switch, and looked at herself in the mirror. Still nothing looked back at her. She rolled back down onto her feet and stared at herself in the mirror, trying to figure out what was going on. Was she going crazy? Had losing an entire half of her, made her go insane? They were both unconscious after the stabbing so there was no way to tell what had happened, but she was fairly sure neither Sam nor Dean knew how to completely heal a wound like that without leaving so much as a scar.

Footsteps came to a stop behind her and she turned to find Dean standing in the doorway with Sam behind him. Dean's eyes dropped down to her exposed skin and his eyes flashed with something she couldn't name before he looked away. She slowly let the fabric of her paper thin gown fall to brush her ankles. She looked Dean over and still felt an odd flutter in the pit of her stomach; _Nadia is gone, why do I still feel this way towards him?_ She blinked and ignored the feeling.

He studied her for a few moments before straightening his back and subtly leaning away from her. He swallowed and doors slammed shut behind his eyes, "So you're alive."

The coldness in his voice made her eyes grow cold as well. "Glad to see you're so ecstatic about that." He ignored her, sparing only a disgusted twitch of his lip. "How exactly is that, by the way; cause the last thing I remember is being stabbed in the back." The feeling of dread fluttered through her again from her memory, "By an angel," she added. Her gaze zeroed in on Dean, "Glad to know some things are still so black and white for some people."

"They've always been black and white," he narrowed his eyes right back at her, his jaw muscles bunched.

She blew a small laugh out her nose and turned to walk back to the bed. She turned to face them and leaned back against the edge of the bed. "What happened?"

Dean looked reluctant to answer her and Sam must have expected that, so he started talking. "Uriel stabbed you. He claimed it was on orders from on high to protect Dean and me."

Aidan thought back to just before she'd been stabbed; she'd been berating Dean by the side of his car. She smiled coldly, "Of course they did."

"Castiel showed up but it was too late and apparently, from what Uriel said, his orders came from way over Castiel's head."

"I couldn't give a rat's ass about angel politics," she said exasperatedly. "That doesn't explain how I survived and ended up here without so much as a nick on my skin."

"It's not your skin," Dean mumbled.

Her focus moved from Sam to Dean and again zeroed in intently; it was all Sam could do not to shrink back and he wasn't even the object of her glare. "Yes, it is; always has been and now that, for whatever reason, Nadia is gone, it always will be. Mine and only mine, the sooner you get over that, the better off we'll all be."

Dean was incredulous, "The better off we'll be? What, you think you're just going to continue riding along in the back seat with us? You think you're a part of our lives? You may look like Nadia, but you will _never_ be Nadia." His lips pulled back over his teeth and his voice was tight. His body was tense like he was barely holding himself back from attacking her right then and there. "The _only_ reason I gave the okay for that angel to save you, is because I know Nadia would've killed me if threw away the chance at a life free from hell, that she gave me. Don't think for a second that this has _anything_ to do with you. You are a demon, you will always be _just_ a demon," his words were slow and measured. "You might have her face, but if I _ever _see you again, I will not hesitate to kill you."

And with that, he turned and brushed past his brother, walking down the hall without looking back. Sam looked from his brother's retreating back, to Aidan. He blinked and swallowed, "I know I have no right to ask this—and I'm not even sure why I am, considering what you are now—but you still have a chance to save him and if what I see on your face when you look at him, isn't just a figment of my imagination, maybe you will. So…" He started to turn and walk away but, ever the well-mannered brother, he stopped and looked back at her, "Goodbye, Aidan," he nodded awkwardly and left.


	44. Chapter 44

Aidan watched Sam walk out the door and a feeling of panic washed over her. "Sam!" she called, not entirely sure why. He stopped and looked around the doorframe, his long fingers wrapped around the smooth, white metal. Aidan grew nervous as he looked at her expectantly; why couldn't she have just let him go? Why did she feel the need to reassure him? She licked her lips, "I will. Finish what she started," she clarified.

The corner of his mouth quirked upward, "I know." She furrowed her brow and he stepped the rest of the way into the doorway. "He makes you nervous; say what you want but I know you care about what he thinks of you."

She swallowed and glared at him, "A side effect of sharing a brain with a heart with legs." She blinked and looked down at the plain white floor, picking at the ugly pale blue hospital gown. "Guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, it'll probably wear off; what with her gone and everything," she looked up at him. After a beat she dropped her eyes again, "And even if it doesn't… Well, I thought he hated me before," she smiled dryly.

Sam sighed in a way that sounded like he was trying to pull his thoughts together and Aidan looked at him. His eyes squinted for a second, "Dean's never found it easy to trust anyone. We had that ingrained in us. Well, that and to _never_, _ever_ trust a demon. They lie." He paused. "I don't think he really hated you before… I just think he couldn't reconcile the fact that he was in love with someone who stood against everything he believed. Someone who took all those beliefs and turned them upside down.

"Hunters share a type of religion. There are things you do and things you don't. There is a clear black and white to what's right and what is wrong. I mean it would be hard enough for, say, a Catholic to find out their entire belief system was wrong and some other, totally different one was right. This," he gestured to her, "you, are like finding out maybe heaven and hell aren't so different after all… It's just a matter of perception."

She didn't say anything as she stared out the window. "Look, for hunters, being in love is the worst kind of torture. You worry when that person isn't with you, you put them in danger when they are… The person you love is the easiest way to get to you. The best thing you can do for them is to walk away but it's the hardest thing to do and it tears you up inside. You…you're different. Nadia was different. She wasn't a liability like most people are when we bring them along, she was an asset. Now here you are, perhaps the best chance we have in this whole apocalypse thing, and it hurts too much to have you around."

She looked thoughtfully off to her right. There were a million things she wanted to say but in the end, all she could do was continue to act like the demon she was and pretend emotions didn't touch her. "I have to admit I would probably feel more slighted about that whole, me-hell, her-heaven, analogy if I hadn't met an actual angel. Who knows, maybe fire and brimstone and eternal torture are the good end of the deal," she smirked.

Sam laughed and turned slightly to walk back out the door. "See you around."

"If you ever do, could you do me a favor?"

"That depends," Sam replied a little hesitantly.

"Point out something, I don't know, _shiny_ to your brother in the opposite direction?"

He smiled, "Will do." He turned and walked down the hall and disappeared from sight.

Aidan stared after him for a long time; not really sure what she was hoping for but she never got it. She turned and watched the people walking through the parking lot below going about their lives completely oblivious to the other world that surrounded them. Many would clash with that world but few would ever truly understand what they'd experienced.

Even now, a demon stood above them with enough power to snuff out them all and their thoughts didn't so much as stutter. Finishing this deal could be a piece of cake; in the blink of an eye the last remaining souls could be collected and Dean could be safe…so why couldn't she do it?

She started to turn back to the room but stopped when she caught Nadia's reflection in the window. She stared at the girl who used to control her and smiled bitterly as she realized _"used to"_ was only wishful thinking. Nadia was still the driving force behind every decision Aidan made and no matter how much she tried to deny it—just like the face reflected back at her—she wasn't who she was born to be. This face, this body was never truly going to belong to her; it was just a rental she could never escape. Having a soul had left its own imprint on her. Leaving just enough light within the darkness to make a difference; just as she had once been the spot of darkness within Nadia, allowing her to follow through on a foolish deal she'd made because her love for a hunter.

She was going to stop fighting it, she decided. If she cared for Dean and wanted him safe; she would finish the deal and keep him safe. If that meant searching out people who qualified as "deserving of her collection," then so be it. She wasn't light and she wasn't dark; she was a little gray and for the first time, that didn't seem so bad. She turned around, her eyes closed in a slow blink. When she opened them again, she couldn't help the gasp that passed through her lips.

Dean was finally pulling out of the parking lot now that Sam was back from his heart to heart with Aidan. He wanted to push the pedal to the floor and get as far away from her as possible; and it wasn't entirely because of what she was but also because of the temptation she was for him. He could tell himself she wasn't Nadia until he was blue in the face but it didn't change the fact that when he looked at Aidan, all he saw was Nadia. It would be easy, too seductively easy, to go back to her and pretend she had ever changed. He was even starting to think she was truly starting to care for him and something about that scared him more than any of the rest of it. He could hate her because of what she was and what she'd taken from him but could he keep it up if she wasn't what he thought she was?

Sam sighed and stretched out his legs, seeming much more resigned and okay with the whole Nadia-is-now-Aidan thing than Dean thought he should be. Dean turned back to the road as grief niggled at the back of his mind but he couldn't let it take him over. He was afraid that this time it would be too much. But as long as he had Uriel to focus on, he could put off facing her death for awhile.

"What did you say to her?" A voice came from the backseat. Dean barely kept the Impala on the road and Sam spun around to stare at Castiel with big, surprised eyes.

Dean pulled the car over onto the side of the road while Sam asked, "What?" once he'd gotten himself under control again.

Castiel zeroed in on Dean, "Why is she still pursuing Nadia's deal?"

"Don't look at me," Dean said defensively. "I didn't ask anything of her."

Sam licked his lips, "I did."

Castiel turned to him, "You've made her a target again."

Sam tensed, "What?"

"There are steps to the coming apocalypse. They're important; and if one is changed the whole thing can be affected. The ending could change. The other side could win. That is not something the angels can chance; everything must happen precisely as planned. That deal being completed," he looked at hard at Dean, "you being spared from hell, is not a part of the plan. My superiors will do whatever it takes to keep the course."

Dean rolled his eyes and replied dryly, "How sweet, an all-expenses paid trip to the fiery depths of hell. I thought angels were supposed to be the good guys."

"Dean, that's not the point." Sam glared at him, "They are going to kill Aidan to keep her from saving you."

"Yes and if—" Castiel stopped what he was about to say and got a faraway look that made him tense. "Uriel," he whispered and looked over his shoulder.

Dean clenched his fist and stared at the back of the angel's head. "He's here?"

Castiel disappeared without a response and Dean was left cursing and pulling the dagger Castiel had left, from under the front seat. "Dean," Sam's voice was tight and sharp and by the time Dean looked at him, Sam was already out of the car. He quickly climbed out of the vehicle as well and followed Sam's line of sight to a crowd of screaming people and a broken window many stories up on the hospital.

Sam and Dean took off toward the growing crowd.

"Sorry to interrupt," Uriel said in that same voice he'd used the last time she'd seen him; both smooth and rough all at the same time. Aidan opened her mouth to make some crack about failing to kill her the first time; but before she could get the words out, his arm shot forward and she was sent flying backward. She barely noticed the glass as she hit it and broke through. She was too stunned to stop the fall or teleport to safety and when she hit the trunk of the car in the parking lot and it molded to the shape of her, she felt more chagrined than anything else. This was the second time Uriel had gotten the drop on her and this time she wasn't sure she was going to be saved by Castiel again.

She couldn't seem to catch a breath and her entire body felt numb. Somehow she knew she'd been paralyzed in the fall and she was oddly grateful for it; as those paralyzed rarely, if ever, are. Someone touched her hand and she closed her eyes, trying to pull herself together. She was a demon; she should have some trick up her sleeve to survive a twelve story fall. Actually she was surprised she was still conscious at all; maybe that was the only perk she was going to get from her demon blood.

Suddenly she felt a tingling in her hand that was making its way up her arm. It brought strength and she rolled her eyes up to the person who was still touching her hand, to see what was happening. Maybe some nurse was shooting her up with morphine so the death would be as painless as possible. It was a pretty good place to be thrown out of the window, a hospital. There were worse ways to die.

But it wasn't a nurse holding her hand, it was just a woman. A pale woman who was growing ever paler and whose eyes were full of fear as she looked down at Aidan. The feeling of strength grew in Aidan's chest and was cut off when the woman dropped to the ground. Shock, Aidan thought, she passed out in shock.

"Aidan! Aidan!" She heard her name being called and recognized it immediately; though it wasn't the voice she wanted to hear most.

The faint sound of wings and a light breeze brushed her face and she lifted her head enough to see Uriel standing at her feet. "Uriel!" The name was filled with such rage and hatred it made everyone around the scene stop moving and a tangible current shot through the air. That was what she wanted. Dean was back.

Uriel turned to face the attack coming from Dean. He was going to get hurt, maybe even killed; Aidan gathered whatever strength she had and got to her feet. People stared at the girl who was sitting upright after a twelve story fall. She'd definitely make the news, she thought idly.

Uriel saw her out the corner of his eye and turned back to deal with her. She punched him as hard as she could in the jaw before plunging her hand into his gut with such force that she broke the skin and felt his Grace under the surface. She wrapped her fingers around the searing intensity that was his Grace, ignoring the pain that burned her hand from the sheer incompatibility of the two beings, and pulled it right out of him. He looked at her in shock while she stared at him and sent his Grace straight to hell to be torn apart and tortured with the very things he hated most.

Everything happened all at once; he collapsed to the asphalt, she watched him before hearing footsteps coming toward her and looked up just in time to see Dean with his arm raised and sunlight gleaming off something in his hand. That familiar feeling of comfort she always got upon seeing him shot through her just before an all too familiar pain seared through her chest.

She gasped and looked down to see a beautiful, gleaming silver dagger sticking out of her chest. "Seriously?" was all she could breathe before she fell to her knees.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

Dean and Sam broke through the crowd just as Uriel appeared by two bare feet hanging over the edge of the tuck of a black Lexus. Sam called Aidan's name but it was obvious they were too late.

Dean charged the angel, hell-bent on extracting his vengeance before he could flit away again. Uriel turned to face him with a condescending smirk but something made him turn his back to him a moment later.

He raised the dagger like a quarterback readies a football and lunged at the angel's back. Honor no longer made a difference; he would take the angel's death whether it came from the front or behind. His arm arched to plunge the tip into Uriel's back but just before he could do so, the angel dropped to the ground. Dean's forward momentum kept him moving forward and he locked eyes with Aidan just before he plunged the dagger into her chest.

"Seriously?" The word echoed through Dean's mind as he watched, frozen as Aidan dropped to her knees.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," he whispered to himself before kneeling in front of her and holding her upright. In that moment it wasn't Aidan he was holding, but Nadia and it was his fault she was dying. It took a few times before he could swallow properly and his fingers wrapped around the hilt but he was too afraid to remove it. Vaguely he heard someone mention a doctor and retreating footsteps.

She met his eyes. "Do it," she breathed. She gasped and rolled ungracefully onto her back. Sam had rushed to her side and he pressed his palms hard against the wound when the dagger was withdrawn. She closed her eyes and Dean panicked, "Nadia!" Sam looked at his brother but dropped his eyes, unable to bring himself to correct Dean's mistake.

Aidan opened her eyes and stared at Dean with a mixture of sorrow and regret. She didn't correct him either. Even at the end, she didn't exist. Even now all he saw was _her_. She let him have the goodbye he never got with Nadia; even as she wished for just a second that she was more than just a demon.

After a few seconds she blinked and became more alert. She turned to look at Sam but didn't say anything, knowing that he would stop her from going through with what she was about to do.

She squeezed her eyes closed again and tried to ignore the tenderness with which Dean brushed her hair back from her face. It took all the strength she could muster but eventually the crowd around them started dropping, one by one.

Sam looked around him, responding to the sounds of falling bodies, with wide eyes. A woman close to his feet hit the ground hard, cracking her head on the asphalt but not making the slightest sound in reaction; her blue eyes stared unseeing up at the sky. His blood ran cold and he looked down at Aidan. "What are you doing?"

"I promised," she whispered but kept her eyes closed.

He shook his head, "No, stop. Stop!"

Dean blinked out of the shock that was trying to devour him, "What is it?"

Sam nodded to the dead people around them, "She's trying to finish the deal."

"N—" he stopped and corrected himself, Nadia would never do such a thing, "Aidan, stop." She kept reaching out further and further; she felt the doctor who was going to try to save her, the nurses that ran a couple steps behind him, a woman holding hands with her five year old daughter…

The doctor and the nurses collapsed, the momentum of their forward motion causing them to land on their faces. "Aidan stop!" Dean grabbed her upper arms and shook her. She reluctantly opened her eyes and pulled back to herself before she reached the mother and child. She looked at him but could feel whatever life was in her draining away.

Breathing was growing harder and harder. She just wanted to close her eyes and stop fighting. It felt like she was always fighting. Fighting to make herself known, fighting to control a shared body, to get approval, to be seen, to no longer be an object of loathing. Opening her mouth to say something, she was overcome with a need to cough. She felt like she was drowning. Blood flew from between her lips and spattered Dean's cheek. His grip tightened in response and his own blood drained from his face. She reached out to wipe his cheek but couldn't do much more than make one good swipe before her muscles ran out of energy, smearing her blood like war paint.

The blood tasted strong and metallic but she swallowed so that he would be able to hear her. "I'm sorry… If I hadn't," she coughed again but turned her head so that he wouldn't be sprayed again, "if I hadn't gone after you… She'd still…be here."

His face softened and he wrapped his hand around hers. Her eyes flicked to their hands in surprise. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that a demon's dying words were an apology for taking away from him someone he loved. He cleared his throat, "I baited you. Neither of us could have known."

Her smile was more of a grimace. She could feel herself slipping away and felt panicked; there was so much she wanted to say to both of them but didn't know how. She moved her eyes to Sam and laid her hand over his which he was still pressing into her chest to try to stop the bleeding. He could see it in her eyes; she was telling him it was useless. He leaned back and sat on his heels, his bloody hands hovering over his knees, unsure what to do with them.

"You're kind of whiny…but you're alright," she smirked. A laughed bubbled up out of Dean and she returned her focus to him and he sobered. She wanted to say something heartfelt and warm but she just couldn't bring herself to do it; even in death, she was still a self-respecting demon. So instead she said the only thing she could that wouldn't make either on of them feel awkward, "Save you a seat." She closed her eyes and barely felt Dean kiss her cheek before her body finally gave out.

"Gas leak," Sam sighed as he dropped heavily on to the edge of his hotel bed.

Dean blinked but kept staring at the wall. "What?" he mumbled.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "That's what they're saying killed all those people. A gas leak." Dean didn't saying anything in reply. Sam's chest ached, this was the first moment he'd had to really come to terms with the death of another friend. He glanced up at Dean and felt like he should say something but he knew he wouldn't hear it; just like he didn't hear anything anyone said after Jess died. He'd turned into his dad—revenge the only thing on his mind. He'd gotten it and it helped…a little. It was the least he could do for his brother. It might take a while but Uriel wouldn't get away again.

"I just don't get it." Sam looked at his brother, curious to hear what he was thinking. He didn't ask what it was that Dean didn't get; he just waited until he was ready to continue. "She was a demon. How…why would she care?"

Sam licked his lips and shrugged slightly. "She saw you through Nadia's eyes for a long time. That must have stuck with her. They were two halves of the same person. One couldn't exist completely separate from the other. Nadia had to have rubbed off on Aidan and Aidan on Nadia."

"That's just it." He paused for a long time, struggling with something he didn't like. "The confidence, the sarcasm, the strength, the…goodness… That's what I fell in love with. But now…" he looked around him with a mixture of amazement and horror, "I'm not sure which one I fell in love with. I was so sure it was Nadia because a demon could never show any goodness; but Aidan just showed me I was wrong. She was a demon. And she could be kind and good at times."

Sam watched his brother's eyes bounce back and forth frantically. He blinked in understanding, "It's okay to miss them both—to grieve for them both."

Dean looked at Sam, his eyes shining. He looked away, clenched his jaw and blinked away the tears—he was the big brother, he's supposed to be stronger, braver; he's not supposed to be weak. After a few minutes he took a deep breath and stood, grabbing the Impala keys off the table. "Well, let's get back to it," his voice was still a little tight even though he tried to make it strong.

Sam looked up at him with concern, "Dean, we can take some time to—"

Dean shook his head. "They didn't die so that I could lie in bed all day like a heartbroken prom queen. It's time to get back to the family business. Saving people—"

"Hunting things," Sam finished with a small, wry smile. He'd been with Dean long enough to know that when things hit him, when he grieved, wasn't when it was customary or convenient; but when he was alone and surrounded by breakable things.

Dean grabbed his bag and walked out to the Impala with a new mission always in the back of his mind. Uriel. He could bide his time, he could wait, but eventually he would watch the light flash beneath Uriel's skin as he burst out of existence. No one would grieve him, no one would remember him. That was something that would never happen to Nadia or Aidan.

Sam followed Dean out after flicking off the lights and pulling the door shut. As he looked down at the door handle a wave of grief washed over him and left him breathless. When his lungs shuttered back into motion he whispered, "Goodbye Nadia. Goodbye Aidan."


	46. Chapter 46

**THE END**


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